Giving Researchers Credit for their Data

Part of the Jisc Data Spring Initiative,^[1] a team of stakeholders (publishers, data repository managers, coders) has developed a simple ‘one-click’ process where data, metadata and methods detail are transferred from a data repository (via a SWORD-based API and a cloud-based helper app based on the Fedora/Hydra platform) to a relevant publisher platform for publication as a data paper.

Funders are becoming more interested in good data management practice, and institutions are developing repositories to hold the data outputs of their researchers, reducing the individual burden of data archiving. However, to date only a subset of the data produced is associated with publications and thus reliably archived and hence shared and re-used. This represents a loss of knowledge, leading to the repetition of research (especially in the case of negative observations) and wastes resources. It is laborious for time-poor researchers to fully describe their data via an associated article to maximize its utility to others, and there is little incentive for them to do so. Filling out diverse submission forms, for the repository and journal(s), makes things even lengthier. The app makes the process of associating and publishing data with a detailed description easier, with corresponding citation potential and credit benefits.

^[1] https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/research-data-spring, accessed 29 October 2016