add submission instructions to README.md

README.md

@@ -2,10 +2,35 @@
 
 This repository contains example notebooks associated with datasets, conference tools, or more generally notebooks that illustrate the use of data on DANDI. This repository is cloned into the [DANDI JupyterHub environment](https://hub.dandiarchive.org). Please note that you will need to visit https://dandiarchive.org and sign in once to get access to the JupyterHub.
 
-To add a new notebook, please send a PR. For specific dandiset related analysis, place your notebooks or other code into:
+## Submission instructions
+To add new notebooks, please send a Pull Request. Submissions should use the following file structure:
 
-`<dandiset id>/<org or lab name>/<mnemonic for paper or analysis>/<code>`
+```
+example-notebooks/
+└── <dandiset id>/
+    └── <org or lab name>/
+        └── <mnemonic for paper or analysis>/
+            ├── environment.yml
+            ├── README.md
+            ├── <analysis 1>.ipynb
+            ├── <analysis 2>.ipynb
+            ├── ...
+            └── <analysis n>.ipynb
+```
+
+For example, [000055/bruntonlab/peterson21](./000055/BruntonLab/peterson21)
+
+The `README.md` file should explain the goal of the submission, provide links to relevant scientific publications, and explain the purpose of each notebook file.
+
+The `environment.yml` file should define the dependencies of the environment required for the notebooks to be executed. `environment.yml` files are like `requirements.txt` files, but are designed to work with `conda`. To create this file, follow these steps:
+
+1. Create a new environment: `conda create -n <env-name> -python <python-version>`
+2. Switch into that environment: `conda activate <env-name>`
+3. Use `conda install <pkg>` and `pip install <pkg>` to install the necessary dependencies until the notebook(s) run through successfully.
+4. Confirm that all the notebooks can be run without error.
+5. Export the environment: `conda env export > environment.yml`.
+
+See [detailed instructions](https://conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/user-guide/tasks/manage-environments.html#sharing-an-environment) for creating a `environment.yml` file.
 
-For example, [000055/bruntonlab/peterson21](https://github.com/dandi/example-notebooks/tree/9b1fb88667595a3abcdefda46bbe08e538dcbf0f/000055/BruntonLab/peterson21)
 
 Feel free to reach out on the [DANDI helpdesk](https://github.com/dandi/helpdesk/issues/new/choose) with any questions.