Sharing the results of publicly funded research

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PASTEUR4OA Briefing Paper on the disciplinary differences in opening research data

- April 25, 2016 in PASTEUR4OA, researchdata

The PASTEUR4OA project has produced a series of advocacy resources that can be used by stakeholders to promote the development and reinforcement of Open Access policies when developing new policies or revising existing ones. A new briefing paper, written by Open Knowledge, sheds light on the possibilities and challenges of opening research data in different academic disciplines.

Funders, academic institutions, journals and data service providers adopt open access policies including the publication of data underlying research results. While these mandates are an important step towards open science, they often neglect that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to open research data across academic disciplines. Different disciplines produce different types of data and have various procedures for analysing, archiving and publishing it. Some have established data management procedures, norms or policies, making their research data open by default, while others do not. Consequently the Research Information Network (RIN) states in a report that

‘if the policies and strategies of research funders, universities and service providers are to be effective in optimising the use and exchange of scholarly information, they must be sensitive to the practices and cultures of different research communities.’

This briefing paper presents the current state of open research data across academic disciplines. It describes disciplinary characteristics inhibiting a larger take-up of open research data mandates. These characteristics include data management practices, disciplinary norms of data sharing, career-related factors, infrastructural factors, and legal and ethical questions of public access, Additionally, the paper presents the current strategies and policies established by funders, institutions, journals and data service providers alongside general data policies. It can be found on the website of PASTEUR4OA.

PASTEUR4OA Briefing Paper on Open Access to Research Data

- November 16, 2015 in PASTEUR4OA, Policy, Projects, researchdata

The PASTEUR4OA project has produced a series of advocacy resources that can be used by stakeholders to promote the development and reinforcement of Open Access policies when developing new policies or revising existing ones. Last week a new briefing paper was added, written by Open Knowledge, around the topic of opening up research data.

Open Access to research data is fast becoming recognised as complementary to Open Access to research publications, both key components of Open Science. While the PASTEUR4OA project targets the development and reinforcement of Open Access strategies and policies for research publications, the project also encourages the development of such policies for research data

This briefing paper provides an overview of the current situation with regards to Open Access to research data. It considers the benefits and challenges of opening up research data with a particular focus on current funder and institutional policy developments in Europe and further afield and shares resources and initiatives for further study. The paper is available from http://www.pasteur4oa.eu/resources.

researchdata_brief

Open Access to Research Data – Timeline

- April 30, 2015 in PASTEUR4OA, researchdata

As part of our work for the PASTEUR4OA Project Open Knowledge will be writing a briefing paper on Open Access to research data, to form one in a series of advocacy papers. Sharing the raw data behind published outputs is a key complementary activity to Open Access and the paper will give an overview of the benefits, challenges, policy developments and European Commission directions in this area.

Image CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay

Image CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay

We will be including a simple visual European timeline showing key dates and initiatives in the move towards Open Access to research data. Unfortunately one-page of A4 won’t do the timeline justice so I wanted to share my findings with you and ask if there are any significant events that have been missed!

This timeline builds on Peter Suber’s excellent Open Access timeline and the EC Open Science (Open Access) chronology, and adds in complimentary dates.

Sharing scientific results, or other forms of research, is not a new idea. The great Isaac Newton famously said of his own research methods: “If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants”, a quote built on an expression from the 12th century. Robert King Merton, one of key researchers leading in the sociology of science, advocated in as early as 1942 that the results of research should be freely accessible to all. “Each researcher must contribute to the “common pot” and give up intellectual property rights to allow knowledge to move forward.” The concept of Open Access to scientific data available in a digital form is attributed to the formation of the World Data Center system, created to archive and distribute data collected from the observational programmes of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year. For the International Council of Science (ICSU) who ran the system the idea of data sharing was to counteract the risk of data loss and to maximize data accessibility.

1942

  • Robert King Merton, one of key researchers leading in the sociology of science, advocated in as early as 1942 that the results of research should be freely accessible to all. “Each researcher must contribute to the “common pot” and give up intellectual property rights to allow knowledge to move forward.”

1957

  • The concept of Open Access to scientific data available in a digital form is attributed to the formation of the World Data Center system, created to archive and distribute data collected from the observational programmes of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year. For the International Council of Science (ICSU) who ran the system the idea of data sharing was to counteract the risk of data loss and to maximize data accessibility.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Data_Center]

2003

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2014