Survey Findings: Dryad Repository Asks, “How Do Researchers Pay for Data Publishing?”

From the Dryad Blog:

Last year, we launched a pilot study sponsored by the US National Science Foundation to test the feasibility of having a funding agency directly sponsor the DPC. We conducted a survey of Dryad submitters as part of the pilot, hoping to learn more about how researchers plan and pay for data archiving.
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Our preliminary results show that at a time of more and stronger open data policies, paying for data publication remains far from straightforward, with much of the burden passed along to individual researchers.
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Nearly 72% of respondents indicated that the research associated with their publication/data was supported by a grant. We wanted to know how (or whether) researchers planned ahead for archiving their data in their grant proposals, and the results were enlightening:

• 43% did not include a Data Management Plan (DMP) as part of their proposal for funding.

• Of those who did submit a DMP, only about 46% committed to archiving their data as part of that plan.

• A whopping 96% said they did not specifically budget for data archiving in their proposal.

• Only 41% were able to archive their data within the grant funding period, while 59% were unable to, or were unsure.

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Concerns about funding for open data can have real impacts on research availability and publication choice. More than 15% of our participants indicated that they have collected data in the last few years that they have been unable to archive due to lack of funds. Meanwhile, over 40% say that when choosing which journal(s) to submit to, sponsorship of the Dryad DPC does, or at least may, influence their decision.

Much More (Including Visuals) in the Complete Blog Post

Filed under: Data Files, Funding, Management and Leadership, News, Open Access, Publishing