Tuesday 3 April 2012

RDMF8 - Discussions Thurs 29th March


The discussion was lively on the Thursday evening (I think we ran out of steam on the Friday, but it was still an excellent event). Below are the points that were raised:

  • Journals have a significant role in driving the connections between data and publications. The example given was Nature demanding accession numbers in the 1970s was a key driver for setting up data repositories.
  • We've only just started with interactive data in papers, and we really do need to think about what readers need and want. Publishers need to become more aware of how researchers work, and get involved further upstream of paper production.
  • What is the journals' role in the preservation data? Not sure if there is a need for publishers to get into the data repository business. There is a need to move away from supplementary information, and think about how to preserve it. We all have a responsibility to maintain data.
  • Big question: how do we define a trusted repository? Trusted repositories should be "community endorsed". Publishers are driven by the norms in each scientific community. What are sustainable models for repositories?
  • An easy way to get more out of supplementary information would be to support it in more and different formats.
  • What constitutes the version of record for datasets?
  • The peer-review process is unfunded - how would it change with the integration of data? Nature did a survey where they found that a high percentage of respondents wanted peer-review of data, but didn't want to be the ones to actually do the review. 
  • What role should repositories play in the peer-review of data?
  • Data papers might help the peer-review process, as it'd break up the procedure of review. For example, in the publication of protocols, the Royal Society of Chemistry checks the data to ensure it is internally consistent, a process separate from peer-review. Could this be part of a new role for technical editors?
  • There is a CrossRef initiative (CrossMark) in the works which will allow users to see what version a section of a paper is by hovering over it - allowing users to be aware of post publication changes.
  • The UK Data Archive have a system of high impact and low impact changes for when/if changes in a dataset trigger a new DOI.
  • Where should data citations be put? In the text? Footnotes? There is concern about things being in the reference list which aren't peer-reviewed, and dual citations. Some publications limit their reference lists.
  • UKDA are approaching publishers to suggest methods of citations for the social sciences.

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