Open Data in science
How do scientists experience Open Data?
Also in the field of science, more and more people are starting to embrace Open Data. To explore how Open Data has arrived in this field and how scientific researchers are experiencing working with this resource, a large study was conducted in 2016. For this study, The State of Open Data, over 2,000 researchers were asked about their attitude and experiences in working with data, sharing it and making it open.
Based on the study it became clear that, in particular for those working in social sciences, Open Data is already a reality for many scientists. This becomes evident through a growing number of (interested) researchers making their data openly available and using data from others for their research. For a lot of researchers, getting a data citation already has the same value as an article citation. Based on their study, the authors of the report predict a continuation of the Open Data trend amongst scientists, as even those who have never made data openly available are now considering to do so.
According to Daniel Hook, Managing Director at Digital Science who supported the study, the outcome reflects a key inflection point in the research community where sharing data will become the norm. Do you want to know more about the study or what it will mean for the future of Open Data? A brief review of the study can be found on Joinup.