Biomedical Data Sharing and Reuse: Attitudes and Practices of Clinical and Scientific Research Staff

TitleBiomedical Data Sharing and Reuse: Attitudes and Practices of Clinical and Scientific Research Staff
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2015
AuthorsFederer, L., Lu Y-L., Joubert D., Welsh J., & Brandys B.
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume10
Issue6
Date Published2015///
Keywordssg_data_sharing, sg_data_survey
Abstract

Significant efforts are underway within the biomedical research community to encourage sharing and reuse of research data in order to enhance research reproducibility and enable scientific discovery. While some technological challenges do exist, many of the barriers to sharing and reuse are social in nature, arising from researchers’ concerns about and attitudes toward sharing their data. In addition, clinical and basic science researchers face their own unique sets of challenges to sharing data within their communities. This study investigates these differences in experiences with and perceptions about sharing data, as well as barriers to sharing among clinical and basic science researchers.Clinical and basic science researchers in the Intramural Research Program at the National Institutes of Health were surveyed about their attitudes toward and experiences with sharing and reusing research data. Of 190 respondents to the survey, the 135 respondents who identified themselves as clinical or basic science researchers were included in this analysis. Odds ratio and Fisher’s exact tests were the primary methods to examine potential relationships between variables. Worst-case scenario sensitivity tests were conducted when necessary
While most respondents considered data sharing and reuse important to their work, they generally rated their expertise as low. Sharing data directly with other researchers was common, but most respondents did not have experience with uploading data to a repository. A number of significant differences exist between the attitudes and practices of clinical and basic science researchers, including their motivations for sharing, their reasons for not sharing, and the amount of work required to prepare their data.
Even within the scope of biomedical research, addressing the unique concerns of diverse research communities is important to encouraging researchers to share and reuse data. Efforts at promoting data sharing and reuse should be aimed at solving not only technological problems, but also addressing researchers’ concerns about sharing their data. Given the varied practices of individual researchers and research communities, standardizing data practices like data citation and repository upload could make sharing and reuse easier.

URLhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129506

Gap Area Study Type:

High-level Gap Areas:

Purpose: 
Investigated differences in experiences with and perceptions about sharing data, as well as barriers to sharing among clinical and basic science researchers
Method: 
Distributed a survey to Clinical and basic science researchers in the Intramural Research Program at the National Institutes of Health. The survey was publicized through various NIH email lists, including NIH library and NIH special interest groups. Of 190 respondents, 135 who identified as clinical or basic science researchers were included in analysis.
 Asked: Reuse (how relevant was their work and level of expertise); Relevance and expertise regarding depositing data in a repository; uploading data to a repository; sharing practices (metadata, codebook, processing); acknowledgement for sharing; reasons for not sharing