ATGthePodcast 259 - Digital Science and The State of Open Data report

Against the Grain - The Podcast

Today Caroline Goldsmith, Associate Director of the Charleston Hub welcomes back Dr. Mark Hannell, who’s the Vice President of Open Research at Digital Science and Founder of FigShare, along with Graham Smith, the Open Data Program Manager at Springer Nature.

In this episode, Dr. Mark Hannell and Graham Smith discuss the collaboration between Digital Science, FigShare, and Springer Nature on the State of Open Data report. They explore the purpose of the report, the methodology used, key findings, and the implications for researchers and stakeholders. The conversation emphasizes the importance of data sharing in academic publishing and the need for practical support and metrics to drive change in open data practices.

Takeaways

• The State of Open Data report aims to understand researchers' attitudes towards open data.
• Survey data often reflects perceptions rather than actual practices.
• Quantitative analysis complements survey data to provide deeper insights.
• There are significant differences in data sharing practices across countries.
• Strong data policies from funders correlate with better data sharing.
• Education around open data principles is crucial for improving practices.
• The report highlights the need for practical support beyond policy mandates.
• Metrics for data sharing can incentivize researchers to share their data.
• Open data should be a standard expectation in research, not an exception.
• The findings of the report are openly available for public access.

The video of this episode is here: https://youtu.be/weZCi_WR8HI