With qualitative research, the risks of data sharing can outweigh the rewards | PNAS

"PNAS is among the many journals that have adopted data sharing policies, (1) with the goal of “promoting transparency, reproducibility, and accountability in research.” However, PNAS editors recently made an exception to journal guidelines—setting a precedent with important implications for the viability of qualitative research, particularly in the context of social media, surveillance culture, and artificial intelligence (AI).

PNAS editors agreed to exempt Kang et al.’s, “Social Cognition and Interpersonal Violence (2),” which is based on retrospective, in-depth interviews with 99 young Black and Hispanic men who participated in a Chicago-based violence prevention program. The project’s data are highly sensitive, exploring not only interviewees’ histories of violence but also their life experiences (including victimization and incarceration) more generally."