Barriers

Several studies1,2,3,4 show that most researchers have a positive attitude towards sharing their research data. They understand the arguments in favour of sharing their data and agree with them. So why isn't this agreement an automatic starting point for taking corresponding actions? 

"All too many observations lie isolated
and forgotten on personal hard drives and CDs,
trapped by technical, legal and cultural barriers" 5

The mentioned studies give the following reasons/barriers:

  • Researchers don't want to spend too much time on preparatory actions like adding metadata and documentation because these actions do not give them academic credit1. As rule of thumb you can state that researchers do not want to do extra work which doesn't meet their goals
  • From the PARSE.Insight Survey of 20092 (held with 1389 researchers, 273 data managers en 178 publishers) it can be concluded that researchers are afraid of legal pitfalls and misuse when sharing their data
  • Researchers want3,4 library services to have advantages NOW. The implementation of advice should be easily fitted into current work flows. Also, researchers want to exert some control over their data. They want to determine what will be shared when and with whom and under which conditions
  • Researchers will be less inclined to store their data in an institutional repository if they are already stored in a discipline specific repository. 


Apart from this, research data are less likely to be shared if the evidence for a research hypothesis is weak. This can be concluded from a recent study6.

"Our findings suggest that data management is
in many respects a ‘people problem’
rather than a ‘technical problem"1

 

How to overcome barriers

Once the underlying reasons behind resistance are visible, they have become barriers. Barriers that can possibly be taken. Once the real problem, question or wish is visible, you can take the customer's perspective and start making a difference.

Below you find several angles from which you can overcome barriers1 

  • What is the benefit to researchers right NOW?
    • If you emphasize that researchers can actually benefit themselves if their data are to be reused, this will speak to them directly
    • Give your client the feeling that you will relieve his work burden
    • Can researchers find help quickly when they need it? Is the information on websites consistent? Are people easy to reach?
  • Offer security
    • Let researchers know that their data are always linked to the owner. It is always possible to see who did the research
  • Timing
    • The best moment for library interventions in research data management might be at the beginning of a researcher's career
  • Plain English
    • Speak language a researcher understands. Most researchers didn't understand1 what "digital curation" is and they are unacquainted with terms like repository, preservation, metadata. Many researchers were suspicious when librarians dropped the word "policy". This word implies there is a mandate somewhere. If you rename policy to advice it is clearer that you are there for them and not the other way around. Translating library jargon into plain english could lower the threshold of giving and accepting advice. To give an example: In the JISC-incremental project1 "preservation" is no called "looking after your data"

 

1. Ward, C., Freiman, L., Molloy, L., Jones, S., Snow, K. (2011) Making sense: talking data management with researchers. International Journal of Digital Curation, 6(2), 9-17. Retrieved 10-12-2011 from eprints.gla.ac.uk/49201/
2. Kuipers, T., Hoeven, j. van der. (2009). PARSE.Insight: INSIGHT into Issues of Permanent Access to the Records of Science in Europe. European Commission. [survey]. Retrieved 10-12-2011 from www.parse-insight.eu/downloads/PARSE-Insight_D3-4_SurveyReport_final_hq.pdf
3. SURFfoundation. (2011). What researchers want.
Retrieved 10-12-2011 from www.surffoundation.nl/nl/publicaties/Documents/What_researchers_want.pdf
4. Henty, M., Heaver, B., Bradbury, S., Porter, S. (2008). Investigating Data Management Practices in Australian Universities. APSR. [Survey]. Retrieved 10-12-2011 from www.apsr.edu.au/orca/investigating_data_management.pdf
5. Nelson, B. (2009). Empty Archives. Nature, 461, 160-163. doi:10.1038/461160a. Retrieved 10-12-2011 from www.nature.com/news/2009/090909/full/461160a.html
6. Wicherts, J.M., Bakker, M., Molenaar, D. (2011). Willingness to Share Research Data Is Related to the Strength of the Evidence and the Quality of Reporting of Statistical Results. PLoS ONE, 6(11): e26828. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026828

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