Benefits of Sharing Data
Sharing data is of benefit to the wider research community, can help to expedite research and provide further impact and citation of research publications. Sharing data allows the research to be verified, replicated and extended and can also reduce duplication of similar research.
The study cited below provides one example of how publically available data has increased citation impact.
"The 48% of trials with publicly available microarray data received 85% of the aggregate citations. Publicly available data was significantly (p = 0.006) associated with a 69% increase in citations, independently of journal impact factor, date of publication, and author country of origin using linear regression."
Source : Piwowar HA, Day RS, Fridsma DB (2007) Sharing Detailed Research Data Is Associated with Increased Citation Rate. PLoS ONE 2(3): e308. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000308.
Sharing data does not necessarily mean making data openly and publicly available although this is something that many researchers choose to do, and/or may also be a funding requirement. When choosing to share data, researchers have the ability to determine access conditions and to set a desired level of access to their datasets.
Options include:
Controlled/Mediated Access
Restricted Access
Open Access
Sharing and/or Depositing Data
Many researchers already share data with colleagues or established networks of peers within and outside their discipline. Data files may be shared via email, distributed via file sharing networks or published to the web.
To make data more discoverable and to preserve it for long term access, consider depositing data in a data repository or archive.
Data Archives, Digital Repositories and Data Centres
Features of data archives and repositories can include:
Some Examples
Australian Social Science Data Archive
Data Sharing - Selected articles
Nature - Special Issue (2009) Data Sharing - http://www.nature.com/news/specials/datasharing/index.html
Science - Special Issue (2011) Dealing with Data - http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/data/
Heather A Piwowar, Roger S Day, Douglas B Fridsma(2007)Sharing Detailed Research Data Is Associated with Increased Citation Rate PLoS ONE 2:3. e308. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000308
Key Perspectives. (2010), "Data dimensions: disciplinary differences in research data sharing, reuse
and long term viability. SCARP Synthesis Study", Digital Curation Centre. http://www.dcc.ac.uk/scarp
Research Information Network. Communicating and Disseminating Research. http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research
Travis, K. (2011) Sharing data in biomedical and clinical research. Science. 10.1126/science.caredit.a1100014
Anderson, J. R., & Schonfeld, T. L. (2006). Patient consent in the era of de-identified research databases. Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 24(4), 720-1. Retrieved from http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/24/4/720.full
Sharing Data: Good for Science, Good for You
Produced by DANS (Data Archiving and Networked Services) in the Netherlands.
Columbia University Libraries. Information Services. Scholarly Communication Program.
Research without Borders: Open data and the future of funded research, November 12, 2009.