Publication of scientific data
Points for discussion at
"National Policies on Open Access (OA) Provision for University Research Output", Southampton, 2004-02-19
Peter Murray-Rust, University of Cambridge
Note: this stresses data which are critical in many disciplines which can often be separated
from text.
- Access to scientific data in publications is fundamental and empahsised by the Scientific Unions
- Data belong to the scientific community, not the publishers
- Most scientific data, even peer-reviewed and of high quality, are never published.
- Current publishers are a fundamental and immutable barrier; their is no low-cost business model for them
- The scale of many scientific enterprises now requires machine readers as well as humans
- The technology for self-publication of data (accompanying peer-reviewed publications) now exists
- Data in articles are increasingly machine-readable. Secondary publishers must not hinder this process.
- IPR for published data is increasingly fuzzy and the authors' rights must be respected and emphasised
- The technology and culture for self-publication of data must be encouraged and supported
- Digital libraries and public data portals must help authors to self-publish.