Category: Data Sharing

Researchers, publishers, libraries and data centres all have a role in promoting and encouraging data citation.

The key to verifying and validating research is the identification and access of datasets. But cultural and behavioural barriers to sharing data are still widespread. Rachael Kotarski, the Content Expert for scientific datasets at the British Library, explains why citing data, … Continue reading

A replicated study on nuclear proliferation shows the critical necessity of reviewing accepted scientific results.

In replicating a 2009 study on the role of asymmetric nuclear weapons possession, Mark Bell and Nicholas Miller found that a computational error led to the overestimation of the deterrent effect of nuclear weapons by a factor of several million. It is … Continue reading

RDA Meeting Part 2: The Meeting in DC

In last week’s post, I outlined the basic structure of the Research Data Alliance, a group intent on enabling international data sharing and collaboration. I attended the recent RDA 2nd Plenary in Washington, DC last week, and will share a few insights below. The Good Stuff The RDA has some seriously admirable ambitions, and they […]

RDA Meeting Part 1: The RDA Organization

This week nearly 400 data nerds flooded the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, for the second Plenary Meeting of the Research Data Alliance. I was among those nerds, and I’ll review some highlights of the #RDAplenary in my next blog post. First, however, I want to provide an overview of this thing called […]

Software Carpentry and Data Management

About a year ago, I started hearing about Software Carpentry. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but I envisioned tech-types showing up at your house with routers, hard drives, and wireless mice to repair whatever software was damaged by careless fumblings. Of course, this is completely wrong. I now know that it is actually […]

Large Facilities & the Data they Produce

Last week I spent three days in the desert, south of Albuquerque, at the NSF Large Facilities Workshop. What are these “large facilities”, you ask? I did too… this was a new world for me, but the workshop ended up being a great learning experience. The NSF has a Large Facilities Office within the Office of […]

Closed Data… Excuses, Excuses

If you are a fan of data sharing, open data, open science, and generally openness in research, you’ve heard them all: excuses for keeping data out of the public domain. If you are NOT a fan of openness, you should be. For both groups (the fans and the haters), I’ve decided to construct a “Frankenstein monster” […]