Fossil data enter the web period: Palaeontologists call for more sharing of raw information

"When Ross Mounce tried to use measurements of a fossilized feathered theropod dinosaur in his research, he hit a big stumbling block. A data table in the paper describing the dinosaur contained a formatting error that prevented Mounce from working out the creature's relationship to other dinosaurs, and the paper's senior author ignored repeated e-mail requests for the original file. Mounce, who is studying for a PhD in evolution at the University of Bath, UK, eventually got the file after the journal's editor intervened. Now Mounce is leading a campaign to avoid such situations by making it standard practice for palaeontologists to upload the raw data behind their papers into online repositories — common practice in other disciplines but rare in palaeontology. The call has drawn a mixture of support and dismay, but a sea change may already be under way: several palaeontology journals have recently rolled out digital-archiving policies that align with Mounce's goal...."