IOC Manuals and Guides, 84 Abstract Ever-increasing complexity and multi-dimensionality of ocean investigations present a challenge for the ocean community as we collaboratively (co-)develop methods to research, monitor, and use our oceans. To support transparent sharing of methods, and ultimately agree on best practices in ocean research, operations, and application, the IOC Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS) was initially developed as an Ocean Data Standards project deliverable of the International Oceanographic Data Exchange (IODE) who in 2017 joined with the AtlantOS/ODIP/RCN Best Practices Working Group (BPWG) to develop it into a System. In 2019 the IOC Ocean Best Practices System was approved as a UNESCO/Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Project, jointly funded by the IODE and GOOS Programmes. In this document, we provide guidance on how to best use the OBPS templates, allowing greater discovery, machine readability, sharing, and understandability of methods and best practices. We clarify how to optimally populate the different sections of an OBPS template, and describe how those sections support the evolution of each OBPS submission, towards a global best practice. Further, we discuss some general challenges in developing methods into community-accepted best practices. While this document focuses on the OBPS, it also offers a perspective on the general challenge of structuring and harmonising method documentation. We invite the community to provide feedback on this document (link to Community review), to contribute towards a generalised best practice for advanced methodological management across the ocean community.