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Why Share Data
Why should researchers share data?
- Return value to communities: Especially for researchers who study people, it's important to engage those communities as part of the research process. This doesn't necessarily mean that members of the public need to be part of the research process itself but that they should benefit from their involvement, which sometimes comes at great risk or great cost, and have a say in how their data are treated. Data sharing is just one avenue for community engagement (see also: educational outreach, science communication), and surveys (e.g., Mello et al., 2018 [NEJM]) have shown that participants in studies overwhelmingly want data to be shared (with appropriate controls for sensitive data). Even if you don't study people, your work is likely supported, directly (e.g., through a grant you obtained) or indirectly (e.g., taxes going to public universities) through taxpayer (i.e. community) contributions. Your work might also be of interest to the broader public or have cultural/societal relevance. Sharing data in all instances helps to increase the "return on investment" and can contribute benefits beyond simply bolstering the CV of the researchers.
- Increase your impact. Data are increasingly recognized as a scholarly product in their own right. Making them discoverable, available, and citable can increase the visibility and impact of your work. Several studies have suggested that papers that share data are cited more frequently (e.g., Piwowar et al., 2007 [PLOS ONE]; Christensen et al., 2019 [PLOS ONE]; Colavizza et al., 2020 [PLOS ONE])
- Facilitate reproducibility and innovation. Reproducibility is a cornerstone of scholarly inquiry. By making your data openly available and usable, you allow other researchers to verify your results and build on them. This helps reduce fraud, adds to a global pool of scholarly knowledge, and increases confidence in the research process. Providing transparency into the research process can help to demystify the process and address concerns and criticism. from the broader public and key stakeholders.
- It’s required. Many journals are requiring a Data Availability Statement or Data Archiving Policy as a prerequisite for publication, and many funders (both federal and private) are requiring Data Management (and Sharing) Plans (DM[S]Ps) that provide details on how data will be shared as part of the grant application process. These vary according to funder/publisher, but may require that you submit supporting data, deposit your data in a repository for which you provide a persistent link, or provide clear access guidelines when data cannot be shared publicly.
