Figure 1
In quadrants defined by the relationship of importance and satisfaction the best opportunities for new solutions exist where there are both important and underserved needs.
Table 1
Survey respondent demographics.
| TOTAL | COMPLETE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 1477) | (n = 617) | |||
| Career Stage | ||||
| Early-Career | 471 | 31.9% | 278 | 45.1% |
| Mid-Career | 403 | 27.3% | 223 | 36.1% |
| Late-Career | 261 | 17.7% | 112 | 18.2% |
| (blank) | 342 | 23.2% | 4 | 0.6% |
| Discipline | ||||
| Biology and Life Sciences | 449 | 30.4% | 247 | 40.0% |
| Earth Sciences | 27 | 1.8% | 13 | 2.1% |
| Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 103 | 7.0% | 56 | 9.1% |
| Engineering and Technology | 31 | 2.1% | 18 | 2.9% |
| Medicine and Health Sciences | 308 | 20.9% | 148 | 24.0% |
| Other – Please Specify | 65 | 4.4% | 39 | 6.3% |
| Physical Sciences | 26 | 1.8% | 16 | 2.6% |
| Social Sciences | 144 | 9.7% | 80 | 13.0% |
| (blank) | 324 | 21.9% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Location | ||||
| Europe | 337 | 22.8% | 132 | 21.4% |
| North America | 934 | 63.2% | 485 | 78.6% |
| Other – Please Specify | 82 | 5.6% | 0 | 0.0% |
| (blank) | 124 | 8.4% | 0 | 0.0% |
Figure 2
The most common discipline of respondents who completed the survey was Biology and Life Sciences, followed by Medicine and Health Science.
Figure 3
The most common method for sharing research data in the past is as supplemental files.
Table 2
Mean scores, standard deviations, 95% confidence interval for the mean, and number of responses for each factor for both importance and satisfaction.
| n | IMPORTANCE | SATISFACTION | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mean | ± stdev | CI | mean | ± stdev | CI | |||
| Data Preparation | ||||||||
| Spend less time organizing my data files | 617 | 57.9 | 28.1 | 2.2 | 60.8 | 25.0 | 2.0 | |
| Spend less time deciding which datasets to share | 617 | 37.8 | 31.1 | 2.5 | 65.7 | 24.0 | 1.9 | |
| Spend less time describing my research data | 617 | 47.0 | 28.2 | 2.2 | 63.8 | 21.9 | 1.7 | |
| Prepare usage rights statement outlining conditions of use and acknowledgment | 617 | 54.7 | 31.1 | 2.5 | 52.5 | 25.3 | 2.0 | |
| Policy Requirements | ||||||||
| Spend less time preparing Data Management Plan(s) | 617 | 48.5 | 28.0 | 2.2 | 58.5 | 24.9 | 2.0 | |
| Comply with journal policies on data sharing | 617 | 69.5 | 27.4 | 2.2 | 68.1 | 25.3 | 2.0 | |
| Comply with funder policies on data sharing | 617 | 73.8 | 27.9 | 2.2 | 69.1 | 24.2 | 1.9 | |
| Comply with institutional policies on data sharing | 617 | 67.1 | 30.1 | 2.4 | 68.5 | 24.9 | 2.0 | |
| Meet funder requirements for data management plans | 617 | 62.6 | 29.8 | 2.4 | 64.7 | 23.2 | 1.8 | |
| Ensure funder knows my Data Management Plan has been followed | 617 | 52.7 | 29.9 | 2.4 | 61.4 | 22.8 | 1.8 | |
| Data Publishing | ||||||||
| Get help determining which datasets I have permission to share | 617 | 47.8 | 33.4 | 2.6 | 59.1 | 26.7 | 2.1 | |
| Spend less time finding a repository for my data | 617 | 44.0 | 31.4 | 2.5 | 61.4 | 27.7 | 2.2 | |
| Ability to place an embargo on my data | 617 | 44.0 | 34.2 | 2.7 | 60.1 | 24.5 | 1.9 | |
| Spend less time describing my supplemental files | 617 | 43.4 | 29.8 | 2.4 | 60.0 | 23.0 | 1.8 | |
| Ability to upload my data along with my article | 617 | 54.8 | 31.3 | 2.5 | 59.0 | 24.2 | 1.9 | |
| Spend less time creating a Data Availability Statement | 617 | 44.7 | 28.9 | 2.3 | 55.2 | 22.7 | 1.8 | |
| Ability to create a Data Availability Statement that includes links to my research data files | 617 | 51.8 | 29.9 | 2.4 | 53.6 | 23.1 | 1.8 | |
| Ability to create a Data Availability Statement that includes a description of each of my research data files | 617 | 47.2 | 28.3 | 2.2 | 52.8 | 22.1 | 1.7 | |
| Spend less time uploading my data files | 617 | 45.5 | 31.0 | 2.4 | 58.3 | 24.2 | 1.9 | |
| Choose an appropriate license for my data | 617 | 54.4 | 31.6 | 2.5 | 51.8 | 25.7 | 2.0 | |
| Increase the discoverability of my research data | 617 | 64.8 | 30.9 | 2.4 | 51.0 | 23.1 | 1.8 | |
| My research data has its own Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | 617 | 59.2 | 33.4 | 2.6 | 58.8 | 26.6 | 2.1 | |
| Reuse of my data | ||||||||
| Understand who is using my data set | 617 | 54.3 | 32.0 | 2.5 | 46.5 | 26.9 | 2.1 | |
| Ability to control who can use my data | 617 | 39.1 | 35.1 | 2.8 | 53.8 | 26.2 | 2.1 | |
| Trust the researchers who request my data | 617 | 58.3 | 33.4 | 2.6 | 55.3 | 24.2 | 1.9 | |
| Increase my co-authorship opportunities | 617 | 53.5 | 33.7 | 2.7 | 53.4 | 24.3 | 1.9 | |
| Increase the likelihood that my research papers are cited | 617 | 70.0 | 27.6 | 2.2 | 52.5 | 21.3 | 1.7 | |
| Increase the likelihood that my research benefits science | 617 | 85.0 | 21.8 | 1.7 | 54.9 | 21.2 | 1.7 | |
| Ability to track downloads of my research data | 617 | 51.7 | 30.2 | 2.4 | 49.5 | 23.3 | 1.8 | |
| Ability to track citations of my research data | 617 | 65.4 | 28.2 | 2.2 | 54.2 | 25.5 | 2.0 | |
| Reuse of other researchers’ data | ||||||||
| Spend less time searching for articles with reusable datasets | 318 | 61.4 | 33.1 | 3.7 | 41.4 | 23.5 | 2.6 | |
| Determine how many other researchers are sharing data with their publications | 318 | 45.3 | 33.4 | 3.7 | 42.7 | 22.0 | 2.4 | |
| Find articles with data that are available on request | 318 | 47.8 | 32.3 | 3.6 | 45.2 | 23.6 | 2.6 | |
| Spend less time making individual requests for datasets | 318 | 58.9 | 33.2 | 3.7 | 43.0 | 23.6 | 2.6 | |
| Determine how many papers in a journal have data that is publicly available | 318 | 45.3 | 35.6 | 3.9 | 43.6 | 23.0 | 2.5 | |
| Determine which researchers are sharing data with their publications | 263 | 50.2 | 34.0 | 4.1 | 44.7 | 23.9 | 2.9 | |
Table 3
Mean importance and satisfaction scores by career stage for each factor. The factor where the highest score is statistically significantly different based on t-tests (p < .05) to both of the other cohorts are marked in bold.
| n | MEAN IMPORTANCE | MEAN SATISFACTION | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EARLY | MID | LATE | EARLY | MID | LATE | EARLY | MID | LATE | |||
| Data Preparation | |||||||||||
| Spend less time organizing my data files | 278 | 223 | 112 | 57.7 | 58.6 | 56.9 | 60.9 | 59.8 | 62.9 | ||
| Spend less time deciding which datasets to share | 278 | 223 | 112 | 38.8 | 38.8 | 33.3 | 65.3 | 64.4 | 68.7 | ||
| Spend less time describing my research data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 46.6 | 49.1 | 44.9 | 63.0 | 63.4 | 66.4 | ||
| Prepare usage rights statement outlining conditions of use and acknowledgment | 278 | 223 | 112 | 55.8 | 53.8 | 54.5 | 52.6 | 51.2 | 54.5 | ||
| Policy Requirements | |||||||||||
| Spend less time preparing Data Management Plan(s) | 278 | 223 | 112 | 47.7 | 49.7 | 47.5 | 58.4 | 58.1 | 59.5 | ||
| Comply with journal policies on data sharing | 278 | 223 | 112 | 69.5 | 70.6 | 66.5 | 68.5 | 68.1 | 67.4 | ||
| Comply with funder policies on data sharing | 278 | 223 | 112 | 73.8 | 74.2 | 71.9 | 68.7 | 68.4 | 71.9 | ||
| Comply with institutional policies on data sharing | 278 | 223 | 112 | 70.6 | 64.9 | 61.8 | 69.1 | 66.7 | 71.0 | ||
| Meet funder requirements for data management plans | 278 | 223 | 112 | 63.4 | 61.8 | 60.7 | 63.8 | 65.3 | 65.3 | ||
| Ensure funder knows my Data Management Plan has been followed | 278 | 223 | 112 | 53.7 | 52.4 | 50.0 | 60.7 | 61.9 | 62.5 | ||
| Data Publishing | |||||||||||
| Get help determining which datasets I have permission to share | 278 | 223 | 112 | 50.4 | 47.0 | 43.8 | 55.5 | 59.9 | 66.5 | ||
| Spend less time finding a repository for my data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 46.9 | 42.3 | 40.0 | 60.6 | 63.2 | 60.6 | ||
| Ability to place an embargo on my data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 39.7 | 48.9 | 45.5 | 59.8 | 60.3 | 60.3 | ||
| Spend less time describing my supplemental files | 278 | 223 | 112 | 42.4 | 43.9 | 44.9 | 60.7 | 59.7 | 59.5 | ||
| Ability to upload my data along with my article | 278 | 223 | 112 | 59.5 | 52.0 | 48.4 | 59.1 | 59.6 | 58.3 | ||
| Spend less time creating a Data Availability Statement | 278 | 223 | 112 | 45.6 | 42.9 | 45.8 | 56.1 | 54.6 | 54.0 | ||
| Ability to create a Data Availability Statement that includes links to my research data files | 278 | 223 | 112 | 56.8 | 49.7 | 43.1 | 54.4 | 52.7 | 53.9 | ||
| Ability to create a Data Availability Statement that includes a description of each of my research data files | 278 | 223 | 112 | 50.3 | 46.0 | 41.3 | 53.6 | 52.4 | 51.5 | ||
| Spend less time uploading my data files | 278 | 223 | 112 | 46.0 | 44.3 | 46.4 | 59.2 | 58.6 | 56.0 | ||
| Choose an appropriate license for my data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 57.6 | 54.1 | 47.3 | 51.9 | 51.2 | 53.0 | ||
| Increase the discoverability of my research data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 70.3 | 64.0 | 53.3 | 50.6 | 51.0 | 52.5 | ||
| My research data has its own Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | 278 | 223 | 112 | 63.2 | 60.4 | 46.9 | 59.1 | 60.5 | 55.1 | ||
| Reuse of my data | |||||||||||
| Understand who is using my data set | 278 | 223 | 112 | 53.5 | 54.1 | 56.5 | 47.3 | 45.7 | 46.1 | ||
| Ability to control who can use my data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 35.8 | 40.9 | 43.8 | 54.8 | 53.5 | 51.8 | ||
| Trust the researchers who request my data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 58.6 | 56.7 | 61.4 | 56.4 | 55.6 | 51.9 | ||
| Increase my co-authorship opportunities | 278 | 223 | 112 | 63.0 | 49.8 | 37.5 | 50.1 | 53.5 | 60.9 | ||
| Increase the likelihood that my research papers are cited | 278 | 223 | 112 | 75.7 | 69.1 | 58.0 | 50.4 | 54.9 | 52.7 | ||
| Increase the likelihood that my research benefits science | 278 | 223 | 112 | 88.1 | 83.4 | 81.0 | 53.4 | 56.3 | 56.6 | ||
| Ability to track downloads of my research data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 53.9 | 51.1 | 48.2 | 51.1 | 48.2 | 48.2 | ||
| Ability to track citations of my research data | 278 | 223 | 112 | 69.0 | 62.6 | 61.8 | 56.2 | 52.1 | 53.7 | ||
| Reuse of other researchers’ data | |||||||||||
| Spend less time searching for articles with reusable datasets | 141 | 115 | 59 | 67.9 | 59.6 | 50.8 | 38.4 | 43.5 | 44.9 | ||
| Determine how many other researchers are sharing data with their publications | 141 | 115 | 59 | 48.6 | 47.2 | 34.7 | 41.5 | 43.0 | 44.3 | ||
| Find articles with data that are available on request | 141 | 115 | 59 | 51.2 | 48.3 | 39.4 | 43.5 | 47.4 | 44.4 | ||
| Spend less time making individual requests for datasets | 141 | 115 | 59 | 66.7 | 58.0 | 42.8 | 40.1 | 43.6 | 48.3 | ||
| Determine how many papers in a journal have data that is publicly available | 141 | 115 | 59 | 50.9 | 44.8 | 35.2 | 42.7 | 42.9 | 46.6 | ||
| Determine which researchers are sharing data with their publications | 117 | 98 | 46 | 52.8 | 53.1 | 39.7 | 43.7 | 44.4 | 47.8 | ||
Figure 4
Respondents were on average satisfied with their ability to complete the majority of tasks associated with Data Preparation, Data Publishing and Reuse of their own data but dissatisfied with their ability to complete tasks associated with Reuse of other researchers’ data. Tasks associated with meeting policy requirements are important and satisfied. 95% Confidence intervals for the mean values ranged from 1.7 to 4.1 for importance scores and 1.7 to 2.9 for satisfaction scores.