Sharing Publication-Related Data and Materials Responsibilities of Authorship in the Life Sciences (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-16
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As interest in the topic of standard practices was growing, the National Academies approached the National Cancer Institute, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Science Foundation, and the Sloan Foundation with the idea of undertaking a study of the issues related to sharing publication-related data and materials. With their support, in October 2001, the Academies created the Committee on
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From page 2... ...
During the workshop, discussions about which data and materials related to a publication an author ought to provide and the precise manner in which they should be shared with others revealed how important those requirements are to the scientific community. Much of the analysis that took place in working groups was an effort to discern how an author (with individual competitive, commercial, or other interests)
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Publication also enhances a researcher's job prospects, ability to be promoted or gain tenure, and prospects for research support. Companies whose scientists publish their findings also typically receive the intellectual credit, recognition, and prestige that come with such disclosures to the entire scientific community.
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Given the diversity of disciplinary communities in the life sciences, different standards are expected to arise. Nevertheless, the 4
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Because scientific publication is intended to move science forward, an author should provide data in a way that is practical for other investigators. The data might reasonably be provided on-line but should be available on the same basis as if they were in the printed publication (for example, through a direct and open-access link from the paper published on-line)
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The purpose of using publicly accessible data repositories is a practical one to expedite scientific progress and provide access to data in a manner that allows others to build on it. By their nature, these repositories help define consistent policies of data format and content, as wed as accessibility to the scientific community.
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In addition to creating, implementing, and enforcing standards, some workshop participants suggested that the scientific community should also confront the problems that contribute to uncertainty surrounding standards, for example by creating incentives to share data and materials, and addressing the costs, administrative barriers, and commercial issues related to sharing. Reflecting these concerns, the committee developed a set of recommendations that describe possible actions by participants in the scientific enterprise to address issues concerning sharing publication-related data and materials.
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(Chapter 3) The scientific community should continue to be involved in crafting appropriate terms of any legislation that provides additional database protection.
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(Chapter 4) The merits of adopting a standard MTA should be examined closely by aU institutions engaged in technology transfer, and efforts to streamline the process should be championed et the highestlevels of universities, private research centers, and commercial enterprises.
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Policies for data sharing should include requirements for deposition of complex datasets in appropriate databases and for the sharing of software and algorithms integral to the findings being reported. The policies should also clearly state the consequences for authors who do not adhere to the policies and the procedure for registering complaints about noncompliance.
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, and other funding organizations, such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, have policies that reinforce and in some cases extend the standards set by the research community for depositing data in public databases. NIH has also issued a set of principles and guidelines on obtaining and disseminating biomedical research resources, although these are not tied specifically to publication.
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By supporting the development of repositories, aDowing grantee institutions to recoup the costs of distribution, and through other mechanisms, funding organizations can help to assist scientists in meeting their obligations as authors. Authors should take advantage of existing ways to facilitate and minimize the costs of sharing publication-related research resources, including the deposition of research materials in existing public repositories.
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At the same time, it is expected that community standards respect laws that protect human subjects or restrict access to radioisotopes, explosives, controlled substances, and certain pathogens. The expectation that an author share publication-related materials is superseded, for example, by prohibitions imposed by many nations on the distribution of biological materials and organisms collected in those countries.
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This includes a common ethic with regard to the integrity of the scientific process and a long-held commitment to the validation of concepts by experimentation and later verification or refutation of published observations. The focus of this report is on the life sciences, but the principles and standards considered in the committee's deliberations are of a fundamental nature.
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True science thrives best in glass houses, where everyone can look in. Max Perutz 15
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The searchfor Truth is in one way hard and in another way easy. For it is evident that no one can master iffily nor miss it wholly.
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