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For Open Data Day on 7th March, the Early Career Researcher Advisory Board (ECRAB) for Wellcome Open Research, a partner platform with Wellcome, marked the occasion with the launch of their campaign for data sharing. This is part of their wider commitment to the open science principles, where their focus will be on growing a culture of data sharing. 

In late 2019, the ECRAB met to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities early career researchers face with respect to open research. The group quickly identified data sharing as a topic that needed more exposure. Afterall, data is central to the research ecosystem and key to reproducibility. As a driving force behind Wellcome Open Research, the ECRAB believe, not only should research data no longer be relegated to a hard drive or supplementary file, but that data should be shared in a way that is most useful to research. “We are keen in the WOR ECRAB to promote and support good practice around open data and data sharing. There is fear and insecurity around what open data and data sharing might mean on an individual level. Data sharing might also seem like an arduous and thankless task to achieve at the end of a project when time is limited,” says Rebecca Payne, chair of the WOR ECRAB.

The FAIR data principles have become a leading framework for scientific data management – aiming to make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. Alongside the FAIR principles, the introduction of data management plans (DMPs) by several funders and institutes have increased the expectation that data be well-managed from a project’s conception through to, and beyond, completion. As such, it is no longer simply enough for data to be legally and technically open.

The approach to research data should be holistic with a focus on data quality and stewardship. Wellcome Open Research is proud to support this through the publication of Data Notes, as exemplified by the ALSPAC Gateway. Data Notes promote the reuse of datasets by providing a detailed description of a dataset; making it easier for other researchers to interpret and, thus, more likely use. Ben Steventon, an ECRAB member and data note author, recognises this value: “The open research model allows you to open out the data to readers/users who might not have come across the research paper in which the data was connected with.”

Yet still, the conversation of the ECRAB amplified the reality that the practicalities of data sharing are often shrouded with questions and uncertainty – from the need to protect sensitive data, to the question of when (if ever) an embargo is acceptable. And this is further complicated by differences across disciplines where community norms, data types, standards, ethics, and intellectual property contribute. Managing data in the humanities, for instance, presents different needs than clinical research. Similarly, data sharing also presents physical, social, and economic challenges depending on region. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach here. This is why the ECRAB is now calling on fellow early career researchers of all disciplines and locales to engage with them on how to best support researchers in this area. If you’d like to get involved, please reach out to us via email: info@wellcomeopenresearch.org

“We are excited to be launching a data sharing campaign where we hope to address some of the key issues faced by ECRs. Openness is a key ingredient to progressive, reproducible and efficient science as well as a solid foundation on which to build a better and kinder research culture. It is our aim to help ECRs develop their own open data good practices, guided by the success of others, and to implement it at every stage of their research. It is our hope that our fellow ECRs will develop their own vision for open data and data sharing, which will shape the future of research for the better.” Rebecca Payne, chair of the Early Career Researchers Advisory Board for Wellcome Open Research

Through this campaign, the goal of the ECRAB is to raise awareness, share information, and develop discipline-specific resources on data sharing to help all researchers with the shift to open science. Watch this space throughout the year for practical guidance on DMPs, data sharing case studies and more!