Thursday, April 25, 2024
4/25/2024
Starting in January 2023, the NIH is requiring that researchers release the published and unpublished data related to their funded projects. Less than a year away, many researchers seem unaware of the policy change. Yet, making data publicly available is critical to transparency in the reporting of results and the ability of others to reproduce and build upon those results. The community of researchers that generate DNA sequence data have a culture of making their data publicly available prior to publication and present a unique opportunity to evaluate open data practices before and after implementation of the NIH policy. At the same time, many publishers are strengthening their open data policies and encouraging researchers to treat their data as “first-class research objects” that need to be cited to provide proper attribution and access to the data underlying a study. The overall objective of the proposed research is to create a case for researchers to engage in open data practices. Our rationale is that if scientists can see the benefits of engaging in open practices, NIH-funded researchers and others will be more likely to adopt them. The approach we will take is based on our long standing work in disseminating reproducible research practices and our leadership within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Journals program. Our proposed research has two specific aims that include: (1) quantifying the adherence to data accessibility policies for sequencing data at microbiology journals and (2) assessing the adoption and impact of implementing data citation standards at a large microbiology research publisher. At the end of the proposed project, we expect to have quantified the benefits of using open data practices, which we will use to encourage scientists to make their data open and citable. The parallel implementation of the NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing and ASM’s adoption of data citations makes this an ideal time and ve nue for the proposed effort.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
