This post is co-authored with Jennifer Lin, PLOS
Short Version: We need your help!
We have generated a set of recommendations for publishers to help increase access to data in partnership with libraries, funders, information technologists, and other stakeholders. Please read and comment on the report (Google Doc), and help us to identify concrete action items for each of the recommendations here (EtherPad).
Background and Impetus
The recent governmental policies addressing access to research data from publicly funded research across the US, UK, and EU reflect the growing need for us to revisit the way that research outputs are handled. These recent policies have implications for many different stakeholders (institutions, funders, researchers) who will need to consider the best mechanisms for preserving and providing access to the outputs of government-funded research.
The infrastructure for providing access to data is largely still being architected and built. In this context, PLOS and the UC Curation Center hosted a set of leaders in data stewardship issues for an evening of brainstorming to re-envision data access and academic publishing. A diverse group of individuals from institutions, repositories, and infrastructure development collectively explored the question:
What should publishers do to promote the work of libraries and IRs in advancing data access and availability?
We collected the themes and suggestions from that evening in a report: The Role of Publishers in Access to Data. The report contains a collective call to action from this group for publishers to participate as informed stakeholders in building the new data ecosystem. It also enumerates a list of high-level recommendations for how to effect social and technical change as critical actors in the research ecosystem.
We welcome the community to comment on this report. Furthermore, the high-level recommendations need concrete details for implementation. How will they be realized? What specific policies and technologies are required for this? We have created an open forum for the community to contribute their ideas. We will then incorporate the catalog of listings into a final report for publication. Please participate in this collective discussion with your thoughts and feedback by April 24, 2014.
