Data as Social Capital and the Gift Culture in Research

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2017-014

Keywords:

Open Access, Data Publishing, Science Policy, Social Studies

Abstract

The value of making research data available is broadly accepted. Policies concerning the open access to research data try to implement new norms calling for researchers to make their data more openly available. These policies either appeal to the common good or focus on publication and citation as an incentive to bring about a cultural change in how researchers share their data with their peers. But when we compare the total number of publications in the fields of science, technology and medicine with the number data publications from the same time period, the number of openly available datasets is rather small. This indicates that current policies on data sharing are not effective in changing behaviours and bringing about the wanted cultural change. By looking at research communities that are more open to data sharing we can study the social patterns that influence data sharing and point us to possible points for intervention and change.

Author Biography

Jens Klump, Mineral Resources, CSIRO, Perth WA

Jens Klump is a geochemist by training and OCE Science Leader Earth Science Informatics in CSIRO Mineral Resources and is based in Perth, Western Australia. His involvement in the development of publication and citation of research data through Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) sparked further work on research data infrastructures, such as enterprise data management systems and long-term digital archives. Jens current work focuses on data in minerals exploration, looking at data capture and data analysis. This includes automated data and metadata capture, sensor data integration, both in the field and in the laboratory, data processing workflows, and data provenance, but also data analysis by statistical methods, machine learning and numerical modelling. Jens is the vice-president of the International Geo Sample Number Implementation Organization (IGSN). The organisation coordinates the development and introduction of persistent identifiers for physical specimens of research materials.

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Published

2017-04-04

Issue

Vol. 16 (2017)

Section

Essays

Categories

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