Research Data Management

Why Data Sharing

Sometimes people say the most valuable resource in the world is no longer oil but data. In academia, research data is like renewable energy, as data can be reused without diminishing its original value.

Sharing data can speed up the pace of its discovery. It enables researchers in the same or different fields to conduct further analysis and generate new research by reusing the data from different perspectives.

In addition to this altruistic reason, sharing your research data brings the following benefits:

	Create potential collaboration opportunities Data sharing may lead to collaboration between data creators and data re-user. Data re-user may need to input of data creator, leading to an opportunity for collaboration.		Comply with requirements Funders and journal publishers are increasingly expecting researchers to make the supplementary data of their publications openly available.
	Enhance visibility & impact Data is citable as a standalone scholarly output. Researchers who reuse a shared dataset should acknowledge the data creator. This enhances his research impact.		Preserve for your future use Your data will be more organized when you prepare it for sharing from the onset as you maintain proper documentation of your data. Proper documentation of your data can help you identify, retrieve, and understand your data in the future even if you become out of touch with it.
	Ensure reproducibility of your research Data sharing enables validation of scientific results. This supports the reproducibility of your research and thus promotes scientific integrity.		Benefit for teaching Reproducing published results from an existing dataset can be an excellent way for students to learn how to organize and analyze similar data in their future research.

As open as possible, as closed as necessary

Not all research data is suitable for sharing. It happens when:

• The data involves legitimate commercial interests.
• Sharing of data will create safety or security issues for the people or organizations concerned.
• Sharing of data is in opposition to regulations related to the protection of personal data.
  (This issue can usually be eliminated by informed consent from the participants and proper anonymization.)
• Sharing of data would prevent achieving the main goal of the research project, e.g. the nesting sites of endangered species.

If the funder or journal publisher requires data sharing, but your research data involves the issues above or other legitimate reasons, you can provide justification for not sharing your data. However, most research data should not be affected by these issues.

Data Anonymization Tools

Data anonymization tools are software applications that protect sensitive data by removing identifying information from datasets. These tools are commonly used by organizations that need to share or publish data but also need to protect the privacy and security of individuals represented in the data.