Integration of Data and Publications - Alliance for Permanent Access

Report on Integration of Data and Publications Grant Agreement no.: 261530
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report sets out to identify examples of integration between datasets and
publications. Findings from existing studies carried out by PARSE.Insight, RIN, SURF
and various recent publications are synthesized and examined in relation to three
distinct disciplinary groups in order to identify opportunities in the integration of data.
These groups are Researchers, Publishers and Libraries/Data centres. Opportunities
identified for each group have been scoped against seven criteria:
1. Availability
2. Findability
3. Interpretability
4. Reusability
5. Citability
6. Curation
7. Preservation
Opportunities to improve the linking of data and publications have been identified for
each stakeholder group and mapped against each of the criteria in tables at the end of
this summary.
Based on an examination of the available research and literature, incentives and
barriers relating to data exchange are identified for each disciplinary group.
The content of a draft of this report formed the basis of a workshop in June 2011 with
professionals from research libraries. The workshop served to validate this opportunities
and issues identified in this report.
From a researcher perspective, the value of data is that of a first class research object
which represents the basis of their research. Researchers discover and use data and
analyses from others to formulate new and testable hypothesis before extending the
evidence base with empirical data. The implications of first class research objects are
that they require preservation, recognition, validation, curation and dissemination which
then improve their availability, findability, interpretability and re-usability.
Researchers perceive and enforce their creator right over the data, choose when and with
whom they share it and wish to maintain this control. This need for control is based on
perceived legal barriers and misuse, or absence of a trust network common in other
forms of scholarly communication; it may be a mixture of both. Researchers want
somewhere safe to put their data while maintaining control in order to avoid legal
redress and professional misuse, but expect some central organisational structure to pay
for these infrastructures. They recognise that many lack sufficient skills to manage their
data appropriately, but, importantly, are enthusiastic to change this situation.
Researchers see the benefit in joining publications with data in a more formal and
agreed convention, but there must be a recognition and credit mechanism for this. They
accept this joining as good professional practice and agree that data supporting
traditional publication should be available with the publication. Technology can reduce
the latency to joining data to publications but there is a lack of common best practice
Opportunities for Data Exchange (ODE) –www.ode-project.eu 4