# Duplicate observations across datasets
**URL:** https://discourse.gbif.org/t/duplicate-observations-across-datasets/3069
**Category:** Miscellaneous
**Created:** [October 26, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://discourse.gbif.org/t/duplicate-observations-across-datasets/3069 "2021-10-26T21:04:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@gmontgomery](https://discourse.gbif.org/u/gmontgomery)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://discourse.gbif.org/t/duplicate-observations-across-datasets/3069/1 "2021-10-26T21:04:13Z")
Something that I often hear repeated on iNaturalist and BugGuide is that posting the same observation on both platforms results in the observation being ingested twice by GBIF. However, I can’t find any actual examples of this after looking at a number of observations cross-posted on both sites. So, does GBIF de-duplicate between datasets? If so, is it based on same date/time/location?
E.g., an observation cross-posted on both platforms but that is present on GBIF as only a single occurrence record:
-On BugGuide [https://bugguide.net/node/view/1161254](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1161254)
-On iNaturalist [Spined Micrathena from Newton, Georgia, United States on July 29, 2015 at 01:22 PM by Jesse Rorabaugh · iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1829627)
-On GBIF [https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon\_key=2159593&gadm\_gid=USA.11.107\_1](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2159593&gadm_gid=USA.11.107_1)
My apologies if this is a question that has been discussed already ad nauseum – will delete this topic if so. I’ve checked the FAQ and searched for duplicate/duplication within the forum and not found this addressed explicitly (at least in a way that made sense to me). Thanks for helping me understand this!
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### Author:  [@mgrosjean](https://discourse.gbif.org/u/mgrosjean)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:01am UTC](https://discourse.gbif.org/t/duplicate-observations-across-datasets/3069/2 "2021-10-28T11:01:40Z")
Hi @gmontgomery,
GBIF doesn’t deduplicate the occurrences between the datasets.
In fact, it seems like this observation is indeed twice in GBIF:
- from iNaturalist: [Occurrence Detail 1802603122](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1802603122)
- from BugGuide: [Occurrence Detail 1847194152](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1847194152)
As far as I can see, the observation from BugGuide isn’t associated with any coordinate. This is why it didn’t come up with the query you tried (the administrative area is inferred from coordinates).
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### Author:  [@gmontgomery](https://discourse.gbif.org/u/gmontgomery)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://discourse.gbif.org/t/duplicate-observations-across-datasets/3069/3 "2021-10-28T17:02:10Z")
I see! That makes total sense. Thanks for taking the time – really appreciate it.
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### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.gbif.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://discourse.gbif.org/t/duplicate-observations-across-datasets/3069/4 "2021-11-28T03:02:20Z")
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