Data sharing in ecology and evolution

Nine simple ways to make it easier to (re)use your data

“…Reluctance to share data is largely due to concerns about (1) competition for publications based on the shared data, (2) a lack of recognition for sharing data, and (3) a perception that sharing data is technically difficult and time consuming (Palmer et al 2004, Parr and Cummings 2005, Hampton et al 2013). However, changes in how data are treated and shared have increasingly ameliorated these issues.…”

“…Second, as mentioned above, datasets are now considered citable entities and data providers receive recognition in the form of increased citation metrics and credit on CVs and grant applications (Piwowar et al 2007, Piwowar and Vision 2013, Poisot et al 2013. Finally, data archives have become increasingly common and easy to use (Parr andCummings 2005, Hampton et al 2013), and in some cases sharing data requires no more effort than uploading a file to a website. As a result, it is increasingly beneficial to the individual researcher to share data.…”

“…The sharing of scientific data is beneficial because it allows replication of research results and reuse in meta-analyses and projects not originally intended by the data collectors (Parr andCummings 2005, Poisot et al 2013). In ecology and evolutionary biology, sharing occurs through a combination of formal data repositories like GenBank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ genbank/) and Dryad (http://datadryad.org/), and through individual and institutional websites.…”

VegetWeb – the national online-repository of vegetation plots from Germany

“…As administrations reduce their staff, surveys and data analyses are committed to private contractors, to whom re-use and sharing of data has even less priority. Ideas to make proper archiving of relevé data a standard in science, monitoring and management (Parr & Cummings 2005, Costello 2009) are still in their infancy. In summary, Germany as a federal state demonstrates the problems and complexities that have so far prevented the establishment of a European vegetation database.…”

Overview: the links that bind aquatic ecosystems

“…These organizations include the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS; www.nceas.ucsb.edu/; Andelman et al 2004), and the John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis (US Geological Survey; powellcenter.usgs.gov/). Such efforts are part of a larger interdisciplinary movement to facilitate the synthesis of data (Parr and Cummings 2005). NCEAS encourages use of existing data to address major issues in ecology and, in so doing, encourages application of science to management and policy issues.…”