scholarly journals Open-access policy and data-sharing practice in UK academia

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yimei Zhu

Data sharing can be defined as the release of research data that can be used by others. With the recent open-science movement, there has been a call for free access to data, tools and methods in academia. In recent years, subject-based and institutional repositories and data centres have emerged along with online publishing. Many scientific records, including published articles and data, have been made available via new platforms. In the United Kingdom, most major research funders had a data policy and require researchers to include a ‘data-sharing plan’ when applying for funding. However, there are a number of barriers to the full-scale adoption of data sharing. Those barriers are not only technical, but also psychological and social. A survey was conducted with over 1800 UK-based academics to explore the extent of support of data sharing and the characteristics and factors associated with data-sharing practice. It found that while most academics recognised the importance of sharing research data, most of them had never shared or reused research data. There were differences in the extent of data sharing between different gender, academic disciplines, age and seniority. It also found that the awareness of Research Council UK’s (RCUK) Open-Access (OA) policy, experience of Gold and Green OA publishing, attitudes towards the importance of data sharing and experience of using secondary data were associated with the practice of data sharing. A small group of researchers used social media such as Twitter, blogs and Facebook to promote the research data they had shared online. Our findings contribute to the knowledge and understanding of open science and offer recommendations to academic institutions, journals and funding agencies.

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Elisa Caregnato ◽  
Samile Andrea de Souza Vanz ◽  
Caterina Groposo Pavão ◽  
Paula Caroline Jardim Schifino Passos ◽  
Eduardo Borges ◽  
...  

RESUMO O artigo apresenta análise exploratória das práticas e das percepções a respeito do acesso aberto a dados de pesquisa embasada em dados coletados por meio de survey, realizada com pesquisadores brasileiros. As 4.676 respostas obtidas demonstram que, apesar do grande interesse pelo tema, evidenciado pela prevalência de variáveis relacionadas ao compartilhamento e ao uso de dados e aos repositórios institucionais, não há clareza por parte dos sujeitos sobre os principais tópicos relacionados. Conclui-se que, apesar da maioria dos pesquisadores afirmar que compartilha dados de pesquisa, a disponibilização desses dados de forma aberta e irrestrita ainda não é amplamente aceita.Palavras-chave: Dados Abertos de Pesquisa; Compartilhamento de Dados; Reuso de Dados.ABSTRACT This article presents an exploratory analysis of the practices and perceptions regarding open access to research data based on information collected by a survey with Brazilian researchers. The 4,676 responses show that, despite the great interest in the topic, evidenced by the prevalence of variables related to data sharing and use and to institutional repositories, there is no clarity on the part of the subjects on the main related topics. We conclude that, although the majority of the researchers share research data, the availability of this data in an open and unrestricted way is not yet widely accepted.Keywords: Open Research Data; Data Sharing; Data Reuse.


Author(s):  
Iryna Drach

The article analyses the policy and procedures for implementing Open Science concept as a basis for the institutional development of universities. The key events and documents of the European Research Area, which determine the policies and procedures for the development of Open Science, are described. It is concluded that Open Science represents a new approach to the scientific process, based on collaboration and new ways of disseminating knowledge through digital technologies and new tools for collaboration. Open science enhances the quality and impact of research by promoting reproducibility and interdisciplinarity of knowledge; using the open and joint method of production and exchange of knowledge and data in the research process; improving the quality of research, the reliability of the results and the sensitivity of science to the needs of society. It is determined that the goals of Open Science are: the openness of data; the development of the European Open Science Cloud as a unified ecosystem of research data infrastructures; development of a new generation of indicators for assessing the quality and impact of research, which complement the generally accepted indicators to take into account the openness of scientific practices; free access to all peer-reviewed scientific publications, encouraging an early exchange of various types of scientific results; recognition of openness of scientific activity in systems of evaluation of scientific career of researchers; compliance of all EU-funded research with generally agreed standards of research integrity; European scientists acquire the necessary skills and support to teach Open Science procedures and practices; the opportunity for the general public to make a significant contribution to the production of scientific knowledge in Europe. The characteristics and indicators of Open Science, which determine the directions of institutional development of universities, are analysed. The characteristics of Open Science include open data; open academic communication; open access to publications. Indicators of open research data are repositories of research data; funding policy for data sharing; the researcher's attitude to data sharing; indicators of open academic communication - open expert feedback; the journal's policy on open expert feedback; use of altmetric platforms; correction and revocation; open access to publications indicators - open access publication; preprints; alternative publishing platforms; open access funding policy; the journal's open access policy; the researcher's attitude to open access. The goals of Open Science are focused on the openness of data; the development of European Open Science Cloud as a unified ecosystem of research data infrastructures; development of new generation indicators for assessing the quality and impact of research, which complement the generally accepted indicators to take into account the openness of scientific practices; free access to all peer-reviewed scientific publications, encouragement of early exchange of various types of scientific results; recognition of openness of scientific activity in systems of evaluation of scientific career of researchers; compliance of all EU-funded research with generally agreed standards of research integrity; European scientists acquire the necessary skills and support to teach Open Science procedures and practices; the opportunity for the general public to make a significant contribution to the production of scientific knowledge in Europe. The key provisions and promising areas of EU policy on the development of Open Science are analysed. Emphasis is laid on the importance of supporting universities at the national and European levels for the large-scale implementation of the practice of Open Science.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esa-Pekka Keskitalo ◽  
Tanja Vienonen

Better utilisation of publicly funded research output is an aim of the Finnish Government. To reach that aim, the Open Science and Research (ATT) Initiative was launched in 2014. Lead by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the ATT Initiative has funded a number of projects that support good research data management, opening of research data, and Open Access in general. The Initiative also emphasises cooperation and interoperability nationally, and internationally.The National Library of Finland and other research libraries have an important role in the ATT Initiative. Libraries are in a good position to make meaningful contributions as they can repurpose their expertise on metadata, information retrieval, and collection management. They are finding new ways of collaboration and creating services in the fields of Open Access and Open Science.Libraries and other service providers should, first and foremost, respect the needs of research and researchers: science should always be the guiding force. But Open Access and Open Science do have an effect on how research is conducted and published. Therefore, it must be possible to have a critical look on conventional research practices. Increasing amounts of data, new technological possibilities, and new methods of analysis mean that old practices need to be revised. The more pronounced demands of interoperability and innovative re-usability drive for change, too. Of course, the funders are also very keen on cost-efficiency and measurable impact. There is a demand for harmonisation, collaboration, and shared infrastructures and services.The Open Scientific Publishing Project (TAJUA) in the National Library of Finland is a part of the ATT Initiative. The main focus of the project is to increase and improve the availability of Finnish research output. It comprises of several subprojects that build on the existing expertise of the Library, taking it to new directions. They deal withimproving the institutional repository infrastructure provided by the National Library, with special attention to organisations with restricted resources and basic demands;better guidance for institutional repositories on best practices in metadata creation, licensing, and in gathering statistics in a commensurable manner;a tool for easy creation of metadata about research datasets;improved persistent identifier services (ISNI, ORCID, URN, etc.);better understanding of economics of Open Access publishing, e.g. real level of APC, and recommendations for changes in publishing workflows; andrecommendations for ensuring long-term accessibility of scientific output.The TAJUA project complements others under the umbrella of the ATT Initiative. They deal with more efficient publishing workflows, data management planning, opening datasets, training and education on Open Science, and tools to enrich and work up open linked data. Existing national services on data storage, preservation, and dissemination will also be extended.Research libraries should not be shy about their knowledge and skills. With metadata being the new black, they can really make their mark on the world of Open Science.


Author(s):  
Gautam Talukdar ◽  
Andrew Townsend Peterson ◽  
Vinod Mathur

In India, biodiversity data and information are gaining significance for sustainable development and preparing National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). Civil societies and individuals are seeking open access to data and information generated with public funds, whereas sensitivity requirements often demand restrictions on the availability of sensitive data. In India, the traditional classification of data for sharing was based on the "Open Series Data" model; i.e. data not specifically included remains inaccessible. The National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP Anonymous 2012Suppl. material 1) published in 2012 produced a new data sharing framework more focused on the declaration of data as closed. NDSAP is a clear statement that data that are produced by the Government of India should be shared openly. Although much of the verbiage is focused on sharing within the Government to meet national goals, the document does include clear statements about sharing with the public. The policy is intended to apply "to all data and information created, generated, collected and archived using public funds provided by the Government of India". The policy is quite clear that it should apply to all such data, and that such data should be categorized into open-access, registered-access, or restricted-access. NDSAP indicates that all Government of India-produced/funded data is to be opened to the broader community, but provides three access categories (open, registered, restricted). Although NDSAP does not offer much guidance about what sorts of data should fall in each of the categories, it clearly focuses on data sensitive in terms of national security (i.e., data that must be restricted), such as high-resolution satellite imagery of disputed border regions. Institutions collecting biodiversity data usually include primary, research-grade data in the restricted-access category and secondary / derived data (e.g., vegetation maps, species distribution maps) in the open or registered-access category. The conservative approach of not making bioidiversity data easily accessible, is not in accordance with the NDSAP policy, which emphasizes the openness of data. It also counters the main currents in science, which are shifting massively in the direction of opening access to data. Though NDSAP was intended for full implementation by 2014, its uptake by the institutions engaged in primary biodiversity data collection has been slow mainly because: providing primary data in some cases can endanger elements of the natural world; and many researchers wish to keep the data that result from their research activities shielded from full, open access out of a desire to retain control of those data for future analysis or publication. providing primary data in some cases can endanger elements of the natural world; and many researchers wish to keep the data that result from their research activities shielded from full, open access out of a desire to retain control of those data for future analysis or publication. Biodiversity data collected as part of institutional activities belong, in some sense, to the institution, and the institution should value such data over the long term. If institutions curate their biodiversity data for posterity, they can reap the benefits. Imagine the returns if biodiversity data from current ongoing projects were to be compared to data collected 50-100 years later. Thus, organizations should emphasize the long-term view of institutionalizing data resources through fair data restrictions and emphasise on public access, rather than on individual rights and control. This approach may be debatable, but we reckon that it will translate into massive science pay-offs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Enwald

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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Martindale

<p>This presentation introduces academics and researchers to the value of formal and informal technologies in promoting the visibility and discoverability of their online researcher identity. Topics covered in the presentation include Open Access, Creative Commons licensing, Institutional Repositories, Research Data Management, ORCID, Research Collaboration & Social Scholarship, Researcher impact &citation analysis, Social Media, and Altmetrics.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine G. Akers ◽  
Kevin B. Read ◽  
Liz Amos ◽  
Lisa M. Federer ◽  
Ayaba Logan ◽  
...  

As librarians are generally advocates of open access and data sharing, it is a bit surprising that peer-reviewed journals in the field of librarianship have been slow to adopt data sharing policies. Starting October 1, 2019, the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) is taking a step forward and implementing a firm data sharing policy to increase the rigor and reproducibility of published research, enable data reuse, and promote open science. This editorial explains the data sharing policy, describes how compliance with the policy will fit into the journal’s workflow, and provides further guidance for preparing for data sharing.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Moustafa

Open and free access to scientific knowledge keeps scientists up to date with the latest achievements in their respective fields and to help set up appropriate solutions to health, environmental and technical issues. One of the efficient settings toward this purpose is the use of preprint servers- open repositories that allow authors to post their manuscripts ahead of formal peer review/publishing in traditional journals. The recognition of preprints as an essential part of science landscape are on the rise worldwide.In 2018, a European funder coalition, called Coalition S, has been formed and issued an open access plan, called Plan S, that requires authors of studies funded by the Coalition to publish their manuscripts- starting from January 2021- in open access journals or repositories that meet the guidelines of the Plan S. Many publishers and researchers welcomed the Plan S as a step forward to promote openness and free access to publicly funded research. To further enhance the open and free science movement, I'd propose a European preprint server called "European arXiv" (https://eurorxiv.eu) as a multidisciplinary and multilingual repository that will accept manuscripts (preprints and postprints) in the various European languages and beyond. The project is an individual initiative, but interested people are welcome to join.


Author(s):  
Marie Timmermann

Open Science aims to enhance the quality of research by making research and its outputs openly available, reproducible and accessible. Science Europe, the association of major Research Funding Organisations and Research Performing Organisations, advocates data sharing as one of the core aspects of Open Science and promotes a more harmonised approach to data sharing policies. Good research data management is a prerequisite for Open Science and data management policies should be aligned as much as possible, while taking into account discipline-specific differences. Research data management is a broad and complex field with many actors involved. It needs collective efforts by all actors to work towards aligned policies that foster Open Science.


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