Abstract
The recent trend for journals to require open access to primary data included in publications has been embraced by many biologists, but has caused apprehension amongst researchers engaged in long-term ecological and evolutionary studies. A worldwide survey of 73 principal investigators (Pls) with long-term studies revealed positive attitudes towards sharing data with the agreement or involvement of the PI, and 93% of PIs have historically shared data. Only 8% were in favor of uncontrolled, open access to primary data while 63% expressed serious concern. We present here their viewpoint on an issue that can have non-trivial scientific consequences. We discuss potential costs of public data archiving and provide possible solutions to meet the needs of journals and researchers.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 581-589 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Trends in Ecology & Evolution |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 10 |
Early online date | 25 Sept 2015 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Acknowledgments
We wish to thank all of the principal investigators who provided information on their long-term studies. C.T. was funded by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (grant ANR-12-ADAP-0006). Many thanks to Sandra Hamel, Susan Alberts, and Walt Koenig for constructive comments. Deborah Mills assisted in the analysis and editing the manuscript.
Keywords
- Long term data sharing
- Public data archiving