Open research data policies, what makes the difference?

Abstract

We examined open access policies to research data required or recommended by funders that data sharing. MELIBEA and SHERPA / JULIET directories to create the list of funders, and found a total of 36 open access policies to research data. Policies were analyzed in terms of: funder’s country, associated costs with data sharing and the requirement for inclusion of the data management plan in the grant, preservation and maintenance of datasets, when and where to deposit datasets. Our preliminary results indicated that: UK has the highest number of these policies; costs associated with data sharing can usually be supported by funders. Funders require data management plans to be included within the grant. Raw or derived datasets must be deposit in a suitable open access discipline or institutional repository within 12 months of final data collection. Regarding storage and preservation of data, PI must ensure raw data or results are stored for a minimum period after completion of the project(from 3 to 10 years). Funders required deposit raw or derived datasets in a suitable open access institutional repository or discipline. Finally, researchers that use shared data are required to acknowledge investigators who generated the data.