scholarly journals Exploring the social activity of open research data on ResearchGate: implications for the data literacy of researchers

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Elisa Raffaghelli ◽  
Stefania Manca
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Invasive Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technological Infrastructure ◽  
Data Literacy ◽  
Open Research ◽  
The Social

Purpose Although current research has investigated how open research data (ORD) are published, researchers' behaviour of ORD sharing on academic social networks (ASNs) remains insufficiently explored. The purpose of this study is to investigate the connections between ORDs publication and social activity to uncover data literacy gaps.Design/methodology/approach This work investigates whether the ORDs publication leads to social activity around the ORDs and their linked published articles to uncover data literacy needs. The social activity was characterised as reads and citations, over the basis of a non-invasive approach supporting this preliminary study. The eventual associations between the social activity and the researchers' profile (scientific domain, gender, region, professional position, reputation) and the quality of the ORD published were investigated to complete this picture. A random sample of ORD items extracted from ResearchGate (752 ORDs) was analysed using quantitative techniques, including descriptive statistics, logistic regression and K-means cluster analysis.Findings The results highlight three main phenomena: (1) Globally, there is still an underdeveloped social activity around self-archived ORDs in ResearchGate, in terms of reads and citations, regardless of the published ORDs quality; (2) disentangling the moderating effects over social activity around ORD spots traditional dynamics within the “innovative” practice of engaging with data practices; (3) a somewhat similar situation of ResearchGate as ASN to other data platforms and repositories, in terms of social activity around ORD, was detected.Research limitations/implications Although the data were collected within a narrow period, the random data collection ensures a representative picture of researchers' practices.Practical implications As per the implications, the study sheds light on data literacy requirements to promote social activity around ORD in the context of open science as a desirable frontier of practice.Originality/value Researchers data literacy across digital systems is still little understood. Although there are many policies and technological infrastructure providing support, the researchers do not make an in-depth use of them.Peer reviewThe peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2021-0255.

scholarly journals Open Research Data and Open Peer Review: Perceptions of a Medical and Health Sciences Community in Greece

Publications ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Eirini Delikoura ◽  
Dimitrios Kouis
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Proper Training ◽  
To Receive

Recently significant initiatives have been launched for the dissemination of Open Access as part of the Open Science movement. Nevertheless, two other major pillars of Open Science such as Open Research Data (ORD) and Open Peer Review (OPR) are still in an early stage of development among the communities of researchers and stakeholders. The present study sought to unveil the perceptions of a medical and health sciences community about these issues. Through the investigation of researchers` attitudes, valuable conclusions can be drawn, especially in the field of medicine and health sciences, where an explosive growth of scientific publishing exists. A quantitative survey was conducted based on a structured questionnaire, with 179 valid responses. The participants in the survey agreed with the Open Peer Review principles. However, they ignored basic terms like FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and appeared incentivized to permit the exploitation of their data. Regarding Open Peer Review (OPR), participants expressed their agreement, implying their support for a trustworthy evaluation system. Conclusively, researchers need to receive proper training for both Open Research Data principles and Open Peer Review processes which combined with a reformed evaluation system will enable them to take full advantage of the opportunities that arise from the new scholarly publishing and communication landscape.

Open research data in African academic and research libraries: a literature analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 383-399
Author(s):  
Elisha R.T. Chiware
Keyword(s):  
Data Management ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Research Data Management ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Research Infrastructures ◽  
Data Infrastructures ◽  
Management Services

PurposeThe paper presents a literature review on research data management services in African academic and research libraries on the backdrop of the advancing open science and open research data infrastructures. It provides areas of focus for library to support open research data.Design/methodology/approachThe literature analysis and future role of African libraries in research data management services were based on three areas as follows:open science, research infrastructures and open data infrastructures. Focussed literature searches were conducted across several electronic databases and discovery platforms, and a qualitative content analysis approach was used to explore the themes based on a coded list.FindingsThe review reports of an environment where open science in Africa is still at developmental stages. Research infrastructures face funding and technical challenges. Data management services are in formative stages with progress reported in a few countries where open science and research data management policies have emerged, cyber and data infrastructures are being developed and limited data librarianship courses are being taught.Originality/valueThe role of the academic and research libraries in Africa remains important in higher education and the national systems of research and innovation. Libraries should continue to align with institutional and national trends in response to the provision of data management services and as partners in the development of research infrastructures.

scholarly journals Open Research Data and Open Peer Review: Perctions of a Medical and Health Sciences Community in Greece

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eirini Delikoura ◽  
Dimitris Kouis
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Proper Training ◽  
To Receive

During the last years, significant initiatives have been launched for the dissemination of Open Access as part of the Open Science movement. Nevertheless, the other major pillars of Open Science such as Open Research Data (ORD) and Open Peer Review (OPR) are still in an early stage of development among the communities of researchers and stakeholders. The present study sought to unveil the perceptions of a medical and health sciences community about these issues. Through the investigation of researchers’ attitude, valuable conclusions can be drawn, especially in the field of medicine and health sciences, where an explosive growth of scientific publishing exists. A quantitative survey was conducted based on a structured questionnaire, with 51.8% response rate (215 responses out of 415 electronic invitations). The participants in the survey agreed with the ORD principles However they ignored basic terms like FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and appeared incentive to permit the exploitation of their data. Regarding OPR, participants expressed their agreement, implying their interest for a trustworthy evaluation system. Conclusively, researchers urge to receive proper training for both ORD principles and OPR processes which combined with a reformed evaluation system will enable them to take full advantage of the opportunities that arise from the new scholar publishing and communication landscape.

scholarly journals Tutkimusaineiston avoin jakaminen – tutkimusorganisaatioiden jäsenten käsityksiä, kokemuksia ja mielipiteitä

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Enwald
Keyword(s):  
Data Sharing ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Research Organizations ◽  
Data Collection Instrument ◽  
In The Beginning

Open research data is data that is free to access, reuse, and redistribute. This study focuses on the perceptions, opinions and experiences of staff and researchers of research institutes on topics related to open research data. Furthermore, the differences across gender, role in the research organization and research field were investigated. An international questionnaire survey, translated into Finnish and Swedish, was used as the data collection instrument. An online survey was distributed through an open science related network to Finnish research organizations. In the end, 469 responded to all 24 questions of the survey. Findings indicate that many are still unaware or uncertain about issues related to data sharing and long-term data storage. Women as well as staff and researchers of medical and health sciences were most concerned about the possible problems associated with data sharing. Those in the beginning of their scientific careers, hesitated about sharing their data.

scholarly journals Towards Open Science for the Qualitative Researcher: From a Positivist to an Open Interpretation

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 160940692110346
Author(s):  
Barbara Class ◽  
Miguel de Bruyne ◽  
Claire Wuillemin ◽  
Dimitri Donzé ◽  
Jean-Blaise Claivaz
Keyword(s):  
Open Science ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Data Handling ◽  
Optimal Solutions ◽  
Qualitative Researcher ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Concrete Experience ◽  
Handling Practices

This reflection by a qualitative researcher stems from a concrete experience with data handling in a funded research project. The researcher followed Open Research Data guidelines and found optimal solutions to pseudonymise data, but this later evolved into a deep epistemological questioning on praxis. During the first phase of the project, a tailor-made software was developed with help from librarians and an IT professional to automate the pseudonymisation of the 150 data chunks generated by 16 students, 3 tutors and 3 decision makers. In the second phase of the project, this experience sparked questions about the meaning of such data handling and interpretations of Open Science, which led the researcher to suggest a framework for the professional development of qualitative researchers in their understanding of Open Science. The article raises awareness of normative frameworks in institutional data handling practices and calls for active contributions to defining qualitative research in an Open Science perspective, particularly taking as a reference the recent draft recommendation by UNESCO (2020)

Opportunities for Adopting Open Research Data in Learning Analytics

2021 ◽  
pp. 29-60
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Biernacka ◽  
Niels Pinkwart
Keyword(s):  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Publishing Research ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Main Emphasis ◽  
Published Research ◽  
Made In

The relevance of open research data is already acknowledged in many disciplines. Demanded by publishers, funders, and research institutions, the number of published research data increases every day. In learning analytics though, it seems that data are not sufficiently published and re-used. This chapter discusses some of the progress that the learning analytics community has made in shifting towards open practices, and it addresses the barriers that researchers in this discipline have to face. As an introduction, the movement and the term open science is explained. The importance of its principles is demonstrated before the main focus is put on open data. The main emphasis though lies in the question, Why are the advantages of publishing research data not capitalized on in the field of learning analytics? What are the barriers? The authors evaluate them, investigate their causes, and consider some potential ways for development in the future in the form of a toolkit and guidelines.

scholarly journals Open Science in the Humanities, or: Open Humanities?

Publications ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Knöchelmann
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Scholarly Communication ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
Communication Practices ◽  
Do So

Open science refers to both the practices and norms of more open and transparent communication and research in scientific disciplines and the discourse on these practices and norms. There is no such discourse dedicated to the humanities. Though the humanities appear to be less coherent as a cluster of scholarship than the sciences are, they do share unique characteristics which lead to distinct scholarly communication and research practices. A discourse on making these practices more open and transparent needs to take account of these characteristics. The prevalent scientific perspective in the discourse on more open practices does not do so, which confirms that the discourse’s name, open science, indeed excludes the humanities so that talking about open science in the humanities is incoherent. In this paper, I argue that there needs to be a dedicated discourse for more open research and communication practices in the humanities, one that integrates several elements currently fragmented into smaller, unconnected discourses (such as on open access, preprints, or peer review). I discuss three essential elements of open science—preprints, open peer review practices, and liberal open licences—in the realm of the humanities to demonstrate why a dedicated open humanities discourse is required.

scholarly journals The State of Dissemination of Open Research Data in Ukraine and the World: Bibliometric Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-217
Author(s):  
Anton Boiko ◽  
Olha Kramarenko ◽  
Sardar Shabanov
Keyword(s):  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Data Exchange ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Data ◽  
The State ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Data Repositories ◽  
Open Research ◽  
The World ◽  
Data Files

Purpose: To determine the current state of development of open science in the paradigm of open research data in Ukraine and the world, as well as to analyze the representation of Ukraine in the world research space, in terms of research data exchange. Design / Method / Research Approach: Methods of synthesis, logical and comparative analysis used to determine the dynamics of the number of research data journals and data files in the world, as well as to quantify the share of research data repositories in Ukraine and the world. Trend and bibliometric analysis were used to determine the share of publications with their open primary data; analysis of their thematic structures; identification of the main scientific clusters of such publications; research of geographic indicators and share of publications by research institutions. Findings: The study found a tendency to increase both the number of data logs and data files in Dryad (open data repository). The results of the analysis of the share of data repositories indexed in re3data (register of research data repositories) show that 51% of the total number are repositories of data from European countries, with Germany leading with 460 repositories, followed by the United Kingdom (302 repositories) and France (116 repositories). Ukraine has only 2 data repositories indexed in re3data. The trend of relevance of data exchange is confirmed by the increase of publications with datasets for the last 10 years (2011-2020) in 5 times. Research institutions and universities are the main sources of research data, which are mainly focused on the fields of knowledge in chemistry (23.3%); biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology (13.8%); medicine (12.9%). An analysis of the latest thematic groups formed on the basis of publications with datasets shows that there is a significant correlation between publications with open source data and COVID-19 studies. More than 50% of publications with datasets both in Ukraine and around the world are aimed at achieving the goal of SDG 3 Good Health. Theoretical Implications: It is substantiated that in Ukraine there is a need to implement specific tactical and strategic plans for open science and open access to research data. Practical Implications: The results of the study can be used to support decision-making in the management of research data at the macro and micro levels. Future Research: It should be noted that the righteous bibliometric analysis of the state of the dissemination of data underlying the research results did not include the assessment of quality indicators and compliance with the FAIR principles, because accessibility and reusability are fundamental components of open science, which may be an area for further research. Moreover, it is advisable to investigate the degree of influence of the disclosure of the data underlying the research result on economic indicators, as well as indicators of ratings of higher education, etc. Research Limitations: Since publications with datasets in Scopus-indexed journals became the information base of the analysis for our study, it can be assumed that the dataset did not include publications with datasets published in editions that the Scopus bibliographic database does not cover. Paper type: Theoretical

scholarly journals FAIR and Open Research Metadata as Leverage for Digital Libraries: The Flemish Case

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Vancauwenbergh
Keyword(s):  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Digital Repository ◽  
Meta Data ◽  
Content Creation ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Content Consumption ◽  
Digital Objects

Since the advent of the digital age, academic libraries have been transforming from traditional libraries to digital libraries. While digitisation of published materials has been taking place in most libraries, research data is not yet a common good. However, in an era where the Open Science movement affectuates the modus operandi of the entire research ecosystem, it is paramount for digital libraries to include information on other digital objects such as research data. In fact, FAIR and Open research (meta)data can truly act as a leverage for digital libraries and broaden the scope of the library from a place for content consumption to a place for content creation. In order to take on this role, digital libraries must cooperate with ICT and the research community to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to store research (meta)data and that the librarians have the digital skill set for handling FAIR and Open research (meta)data. Throughout the chapter, we will elaborate on the essentials for creating a digital repository, with emphasis on the underlying metadata scheme using the Flemish application profile for research data as example. In addition, we will highlight the essential roles for operating digital libraries containing research data.

Women’s presence in top management and the performance of microfinance institutions in West Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamadou Boubacar
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
West African ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Social Orientation ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Microfinance Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the presence of women in senior management and the performance of microfinance organizations in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Design/methodology/approach Using a data set of 266 microfinance institutions (MFIs) for the period 2013–2017, the study assesses the impact of women’s representation in senior management and on the boards of West African MFIs on these institutions’ financial and social performance. Findings The results indicate that board size and diversity positively and significantly affect the social performance of MFIs, particularly in relation to women’s participation in decision-making regarding expanding services to poor people. In essence, greater gender diversity at the board and management levels promotes the social orientation of MFIs. Research limitations/implications The low representation of women on boards and as managers makes it difficult to more accurately determine the true impact of women in senior positions on MFIs performance. Practical implications The author recommends minimum quotas for women in the top management of MFIs. This would help these institutions incorporate key skills and actively involve all members. Also, regulation places constraints on the ability of West African MFIs to mobilize deposits and this negatively impacts their financial performance. Originality/value This investigation highlights the importance of including women in the top management of MFIs to improve these institutions’ performance. It also underscores an interesting problem and answers questions raised in the existing literature by either rejecting or confirming the findings. As players in the microfinance sector recognize that board diversity is important for the success of any microfinance institution, this paper helps shed light on the situation of these organizations in the WAEMU. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-06-2019-0365

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