Supporting global open data through what really works

Author: Ed Gerstner

Director of Research Environment Alliances at Springer Nature

Springer Nature’s Ed Gerstner, Director, Research Environment Alliances, Academic Affairs, has been a longstanding champion of open data. In this special blog, he discusses the 2024 State of Open Data special report, which analysed data sharing practices globally. Having hoped to see more data sharing, Gerstner realises there’s still much to be done for open data. The report’s insights into what drives successful data sharing can guide further efforts to grow the global adoption of open data.

I've been a staunch advocate for open data for decades. Sharing research data allows other researchers to build upon research and advance discovery. As a researcher back in the 90s, pretty much the only way to obtain data from published research was to use something like DataThief — a programme that would digitise data from a figure scanned from a paper. The very name of the software implied that obtaining published data was akin to theft. Which is ridiculous.

Getting insights on open data practices to better promote data sharing

Sharing knowledge is fundamental to the principles of science and I've always felt that open sharing of data should be the default practice in research. But finding ways to encourage and support researchers to share their data has always been challenging. What works and what doesn't isn't always clear.

This is why the insights contained in the State of Open Data 2024 report, which I discuss below, are so important. And for me, they were also surprising: I expected to see a significant rise in sharing in response to funder-instituted open data mandates. But the relatively slow overall uptake and uneven response across various regions, as well as varying policies and mandates, have resulted in less data sharing in practice than what I would have assumed, which is unfortunate.

The analysis in the State of Open Data 2024 report shows us how much work there is still to be done, but it also brings us closer to understanding where and how to approach global disparities in data sharing. With these insights, stakeholders can better strategise data sharing interventions to further promote equitable data sharing.

Pursuing FAIR: The rise and challenges of data sharing 

The academic ecosystem began to encourage data sharing alongside the emergence of the open access movement starting in the early 2000s, advocating for transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility. In 2016, the FAIR principles were published in Scientific Data, encouraging data to be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.

Data sharing is important because open, accessible, and reusable data helps to accelerate discovery. But despite the manifold benefits of sharing data, this practice is still not sufficiently embedded into the academic ecosystem and has yet to be widely adopted by the scientific community.

There are substantial barriers to data sharing, including lack of incentives (sufficient credit and reward for data sharing), technical barriers (access to repositories and support for data management), and an incoherent policy and compliance landscape (with large variability globally and across disciplines). To face these barriers, we need to better understand the incentives to data sharing, the support researchers receive to help and encourage them to share, and successful adoption of sharing.

Understanding what researchers think about open data, and how they are actually sharing data

Because of the importance of data sharing and the ongoing challenges in establishing it as a standard norm, understanding how researchers perceive open data is invaluable. The State of Open Data is a global survey that captures the attitudes of researchers towards open data. A collaboration between Springer Nature, Digital Science, and Figshare, the survey has been running for almost a decade. The survey provides insight into how researchers perceive and experience open data.

The special report published in 2024, titled Bridging policy and practice in data sharing, went beyond what researchers think about open data, to analysing actual data sharing practices, what researchers are doing about open data. With insights on funder, country, and institutional levels, the report identifies trends that drive successful open sharing and adoption.

“Everyone’s on board with FAIR principles but different regions and funders are executing it in different ways, and some are having more success than others. So, if we can find out what is successful, then we can advance that for everybody.” 

Mark Hahnel, Vice President Open Research at Digital Science and co-author of the 2024 special report

Open data adoption: Analysing data sharing and identifying success

In an informative and engaging webinar presenting the report and its findings, two of the report’s authors discussed their analysis and recommendations. Mark Hahnel, VP Open Research at Digital Science, showed how the citation data sets allowed them to analyse how many publications from various countries, institutions, or funders link to data sets. The data, Hahnel explained, can be “sliced and diced in many ways, which is really interesting to try and think about how we can have localised efforts to improve data sharing and where do we see success stories.”

The report shows how examining different “slices” of open data adoption gives insights into the incentives that drive success at the funder, country, or institutional level.

• At the country level, the success of open data initiatives often reflects the broader policy environment, such that countries with proactive open science policies generally lead in open data compliance and engagement.
• Funders play a pivotal role in determining the level of open data compliance, as they set the terms for data sharing and are often the primary source of mandates (but there is variability between public and private funders and therefore a mixed landscape).
• Institutions, by providing the resources, infrastructure, and professional recognition for data sharing, are instrument in supporting or hindering open data practices. It would come as no surprise that institutions with robust data management services, such as dedicated repositories or support teams, tend to have higher compliance rates, and that these institutions are often located in regions or countries where open data is a policy priority.

“A really important point about open data and open science is that it doesn’t become just the preserve of the global north.” Graham Smith, Open Data Programme Manager at Springer Nature and co-author of the 2024 report

Informing policy and interventions for equitable data sharing globally

In the webinar, Graham Smith, Open Data Programme Manager at Springer Nature and co-author of the 2024 report, presented a data analysis based on Data Availability Statements from Springer Nature publications. The analysis shows a complex and evolving landscape of the various sharing methods used in publications.

While “on request” data sharing – the less favourable sharing option – remains dominant but is in decline, modest gains are seen in repository sharing in some regions. “’Data available on request’ is still higher than we would like, and ‘data sharing in manuscript’ is probably still higher than we would like, but this broadly downward trend is recognising there is something positive going on here,” Smith asserted.

There are, however, significant regional disparities that may reflect differences in resources, infrastructure, and community norms. Smith warned of open science becoming the preserve of better-resourced institutions or regions, with this clustering already noticeable now. “If we are committed to this openness, how does it work for everybody? It’s not just a case of making a mandate, making a policy and saying everything has to be open,” he urged reflection.

“We see a lot of policies for open science. We see that has some effect, but where we really see it working is where you pair solutions with policy.” 

Graham Smith, Open Data Programme Manager at Springer Nature and co-author of the 2024 report

Complementing policy with support to accelerate open data practices

Hahnel shared in the webinar that in countries where there was low awareness and education on open science, data sharing was low despite government mandates. According to the report and its authors, policy changes alone will not be enough to drive change. Mandates and policy should be complemented by training on data sharing and management, suitable infrastructure of sharing platforms, and fostering a culture that values and rewards data sharing. Providing practical support to researchers, beyond implementing policies, is important to addressing the various disparities that were identified.

Indeed, a recent white paper on research integrity training demonstrates that researchers recognise the need for this kind of training. The white paper shows that seven of the top ten topics in which respondents from the USA, the UK, Australia, and Brazil stated they wanted more training on were related to research data management and sharing.

The 2024 special report Bridging policy and practice in data sharing and the webinar with its authors offer a wealth of information and considerations which would be invaluable to anyone advocating for open data and working to support data sharing. You can dive deeper by reading the full report, or watch the webinar with Hahnel and Smith to learn more about the origins and purpose of the report.

The State of Open Data survey marks its 10^th year running in 2025, and the next report will come out in the autumn. It will analyse a decade of data on researchers’ attitudes towards open data and how perceptions of open data have changed over the years. I’m looking forward to these insights to help us advance and support open data and open science.

Visit the State of Open Data page to find more information on the survey, impulse interviews with Hahnel and Smith, the 2024 report and more.

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