Too Many Researchers Are Reluctant to Share Their Data - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

"A new model of data sharing and openness is emerging in the scientific community that replaces traditional ways of thinking about research findings as the private property of the primary investigator. Large granting agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, have embraced the new model of more-open access to research data. Later this year, the NSF will start requiring scientists seeking research grants to include a data-management plan in their applications, describing how and when their data will be shared....But the change has been slower to take hold among scientists themselves—resistance that is bogging down the pace of scientific progress....I have attended countless scientific meetings, presented at workshops, shared coffee and meals, and been cornered in poster sessions by disgruntled scientists and worried graduate students. The topic is always access to secondary research data— the reuse of primary data for secondary analysis. Researchers' concerns include discomfort over possible misuse of their data and losing credit for their work...."