To Share or Not to Share Research Data

Michael Jubb

NERC Data Management Group Workshop17 February 2009

But…….

                                                                     

Cabinet office minister and long-time IT enthusiast backs making public data available for re-use

Benefits?Research benefits

the scholarly recordavailability for further work, aggregation etc

Economic benefitsCui bono?

And What are Researchers Actually Doing?

Forms and Varieties of Data: NSF/NSB categorisation

Research data collections intended to meet the needs of specific projects or groups, Resource or community collections, serving a single research communityReference data collections, serving the needs of large and diverse communities

Experimental dataObservational dataComputational data

Other Categorisations of DataRaw dataDerived or transformed dataStatic/dynamicData as primary or secondary product of research

Decisions?The records managers’ question

What should be kept/made available/shared?In what format?

Who decides, and when?Role of data management plans?

How do you deal with versioning issues

From Availability to Accessibility to Usability

Available but “protected by PDF”Where and how should data be made accessible and usable?Controlled/managed or unfettered access?With what metadata

provided by whom?potential of data management plans registry?

Embargo periods?

Time_Period_of_Content: Time_Period_Information: Range_of_Dates_Times: Beginning_Date: 1996 Ending_Date: Unknown Currentness_Reference: publication date Status: Progress: In Work Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed Spatial_Domain: Bounding_Coordinates: West_Bounding_Coordinate: -82.375 East_Bounding_Coordinate: -80 North_Bounding_Coordinate: 28.5 South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.5 Keywords: Theme: Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: none

Citation, Credit and Reward Haphazard/informal arrangements at present: articles reign supremeDo we need protocols?Citation practice in the xx-informatics fieldsImplications in the research assessment world

Quality AssuranceTwin aspects

ContentUsability

Do we have to rely on informal systems?What is the role of peer review?Can we rely on software to deal with the usability problem?Funder stipulations and requirements?Institutional issues

Expertise and TrainingWhat kinds of expertise are needed

by researchersby information specialists?

Is there a need for a capacity/capability raising programme?Role and status of information specialists within research teams

Roles and ResponsibilitiesWithin institutions

Research teams: researchers and information specialists?RepositoriesLibraries

Across and between institutionsFundersSubject/discipline-based repositories

Funding responsibilities

Motivations and Constraints: IEvidence of benefitsCitation esteem and good evaluationExplicit rewards AltruismReciprocityEnhanced visibilityCultural/peer pressuresOpportunities for collaboration, co-authorshipEasy-to-do

No clear benefits/incentivesCompetition; desire to extract maximum valueDesire for/fear of commercial exploitation Access restrictions desired or imposed Legal, ethical problemsLack of time, funds, expertise Sheer size of datasetsNowhere to put it

Motivations and Constraints: IIFunder requirements:

carrots and sticks?in tune with cultural norms/beliefs/behaviours?policing?provision of funds

Role of publishersRequirement for depositCitation linking

New Behaviours??

Ownership and IPRLack of clarity Are they real problems?Tension between exploitation of IPR and public good purposes of researchCould ownership be a driver?

The very essence of IP rights entails a trade-off. On the one hand, IP rights provide economic incentives to innovate, but on the other, the exclusive rights that they confer to achieve this allow …… associated welfare losses and prevent access by other innovators.

Gowers Review, 2006

One area that attracts significant debate is the way in which universities should be expected to use the Intellectual Property they develop: for example, what should be the balance between universities reaping the fruits of their own labour and delivering wider benefits? DIUS has commissioned the Vice Chancellor of Lancaster University, Paul Wellings, to lead a study into how universities should manage IP for their own benefit and for the benefit of the wider economy.

Innovation Nation, 2008

BenefitsResearch benefits

the scholarly recordavailability for further work, aggregation etc

Economic benefitsBenefits at different levels, to whom?

evidence of value

Take-Home MessagesDifferent kinds of data, different values attached to them, different user needsThe sustainability challenge: co-operation needed between researchers, funders, institutions Scope for publishers to promote access

and need for clarity on text miningand monitoring of Web 2.0

Need for incentives for researchers: support and reward for good practiceBenefits and evidence of value

Scholarly recordRe-use and aggregation

Thank you

Report available at:www.rin.ac.uk/data-publication

Data stewardship principles:www.rin.ac.uk/data-principles

Michael JubbRIN