What makes researchers willing to share their data? - Research Information

"Making data openly available enables other researchers to validate and to attempt the replication of research results. Just as importantly, completely new work might spring from the same data when it is seen through different eyes. But in practice researchers are often reluctant to make their data available for use by others. They feel that there could still be untapped potential for them to exploit, or they worry that they might be out-competed by a larger, more generously funded research team. More off-putting still, getting data ready for other people to examine could prove to be a time-consuming process that brings little direct benefit, as data sharing is often not rewarded in formal research assessment. Nonetheless, many researchers do share their data, for a variety of reasons. While a number of studies have assessed data sharing practices, barriers and enablers, until recently there has been little work to explore specifically what motivates those who do it. However, insight into what drives them may help policy makers and research funders to devise strategies that make data sharing a more appealing prospect in the future. Knowledge Exchange (KE), a partnership between organisations in Denmark (DEFF), Finland (CSC), Germany (DFG), the Netherlands (SRUF) and the UK (Jisc) designed to support the use and development of ICT in higher education and research, has been working on uncovering the motivations of researchers to share their data. The result is a new report, 'Sowing the seed: Incentives and motivations for sharing research data'. Interviews with researchers or groups of researchers in each KE country reveal what made it worthwhile for them to share data in their own particular case, and highlight the obstacles that had to be overcome to do so. Of course, the report is based on a small and deliberately non-representative sample. In the work we chose research projects at a range of sizes and maturity, alongside a subject, methodological and geographic split. But, by design, they are all projects with a commitment to data sharing already. The incentives that motivate researchers to share data fell into four main areas ..."