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Challenges for academic researchers
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Challenges for academic researchers
Dr Michael Jubb
FoI and HE researchers
University of Manchester
22 March 2011
Aims of the legislationopenness and accountability of public bodiespresumption in favour of disclosure
applicant-blind and motive-blindfreedom to pass on the information, so it becomes in effect in the public domain
transparency a key theme for the Coalition Government
Aims of universities and researchers
enhance knowledge and understandingcommunicate their findings
maximise disseminationregister claim to the work they have donegain peer recognition and esteem
career rewardsRAE/REF ratingswin the next grant
social and economic impact
So what’s the problem?
What do we mean by information?
‘information recorded in any form’ (and for certain purposes may include ‘unrecorded information’)methods, tools, SOPs, protocols, computer programmes, algorithms, maps, scans, questionnaires, lab books, samples, images, slides, minutes, proposals, working papers, emails…………data: raw, intermediate, derived, results…..
Research Datathe ‘fourth paradigm’ and the data delugedata as an integral part of the scholarly record
links between publications and underlying datavalidation and quality assurance
data as a valuable resource in its own right, for secondary analysis and re-use
integration and data mining
Research funders’ policies codes of practice
no explicit requirement on compliance with FoI and EIR
data sharing policies“All applications seeking research grant funding from BBSRC must submit a statement on data sharing. This should include concise plans for data management and sharing as part of research grant proposal or provide explicit reasons why data sharing is not possible or appropriate.”
BBSRC
consonant with FoI?
Gaps between policy and practice?
Findings from JISC data management project at Manchester:
data management ad hoc and varies from group to groupmultiple copies, difficult to track downexperiment data in lab books: hard to searchportable devices used for transfer, sharing, storageback-up policies not in placedecentralised and fragmented storageno archiving policies to support long-term curation
Concerns and reservations: I‘ownership’ and protection for intellectual capitallack of career rewards for openness and/or sharing
especially strong concern for data collected and worked on over many yearsconcerns about being ‘scooped’misuse or inappropriate use: ‘no-one else can really understand my data’lack of standardisation
desire for control over when, how and with whom to share
Concerns and reservations: IIcosts in time and moneyadministrative overhead for researchers and support staff
in records and data managementin dealing with requests (particularly where there is a concerted campaign)
BUT
efficiency gains through managing records and data effectively
once effective systems have been put in place……
FoI requests can be refused if estimated cost of obtaining the information exceeds £450
Concerns and reservations: IIIcommercial/competitive interests
risk to partnerships with public and private sector bodies in UK and overseasrisk to research performance (and RAE/REF scores) of individuals, groups and universitiesrisks to exploitation of IPR (IP-hunting by industrial and scientific competitors)
a sector-wide risk?BUT
qualified exemption for trade secrets, and information likely to prejudice commercial interests
Concerns and reservations: IVquality assurance
dissemination of undigested and untested data and informationdissemination of mistakes and cock-upsdata deluge risk to confidence in the research community
ORpromotion of ‘meaningful informed debate’
Concerns and reservations: Vrisk to long-term and/or controversial research projects
where the research depends on gathering and analysing data over a long period of time
risk of loss to free-riders
where researchers risk attracting concerted campaigns during the course of their research
from the UK and overseas
Control and timingdisciplinary differences
genomics different from neurology, particle physics different from chemical engineering
key questionswhat data?what other kinds of information?in what formats?to whom?when?
especially in relation to the timing of peer-reviewed publications
The publication exemption“Information is exempt if the information held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date (whether determined or not).” (s.22)need for clarity about what is to be published, in what format, and when
data (raw, intermediate, derived, results…..)methods, tools, SOPs, protocols, computer programmes, algorithms, maps, scans, questionnaires, lab books, samples, images, slides, minutes, proposals, working papers, emails…………
The Scottish exemptioninformation obtained in the course of, or derived from, a programme of research is exempt if
the programme is continuing with a view to publicationdisclosure before publication would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially
the programmethe interests of any individual participating in itthe interests of the authority which holds the information
FOISA s 27
a desirable exemption for the rest of the UK?
The Muir Russell recommendations
all data, metadata and codes necessary to allow independent replication of results should be provided concurrent with peer-reviewed publicationensure that when you rely in a publication on data held by others, that the data is archived and available in a timely wayuniversities should develop formal approaches for training of researchers in handling and sharing of research datafunders should make clear how important (sic) data and metadata should be preserved
make explicit budgetary and resource provisionclear statement of requirements as to which data should be placed in public domain, and any constraints on timing of such release
ICO should hold consultations on definitions of research data, and on time for which they can be withheld
BBSRC positionBBSRC recognises
the importance of contributing to the growing international efforts in data sharing. that making research data more readily available will reinforce open scientific enquiry and stimulate new investigations and analyses. that data sharing should be led by the scientific community and driven by scientific need. it should also be cost effective and the data shared should be of the highest quality.that different fields of study will require different approaches: what is sensible in one area may not work in others researchers have a legitimate interest in benefiting from their own time and effort in producing the data but not in prolonged exclusive use of these datathe need to safeguard intellectual property and to protect opportunities for commercialisation of research outputs
Questions?
Michael Jubbwww.rin.ac.uk