Transcript Exeter, OA week, September 2012

Data-intensive research
The RCUK Data Policy
Mark Thorley
[email protected]
Summary – my perspective
•
•
•
•
Why bother with data policies?
RCUK common principles.
Current position and policy revision.
Is data policy for ‘big science’ different?
Research Councils UK
£11.2B
Research is essential to the growth, prosperity
and wellbeing of the UK. Ensuring the widest
possible access to research, both within and
outside of the research community, will mean
that the ground-breaking discoveries made in
science and research can have a greater impact
on our lives.
Doug Kell, RCUK EG ‘Champion’ for Information,
May 2011.
Why Value Data / Data Policy?
• Integral part of the research record.
Access to the underlying data helps to support the
robustness, integrity and transparency of the research
record.
• Reuse and repurposing – aka sharing.
Enabling others to do new things with the data –
and not just other researchers.
• Policy framework to support twin aims.
RCUK Policy on Open Access
• Papers to include a statement on access to the
underlying research materials.
• Helps support the transparency, integrity and
robustness of the research process.
Science’s powerful capacity for self-correction
comes from this openness to scrutiny and challenge.
Science as an open enterprise
Royal Society, June 2012.
Growing openness
• UK Government’s commitment to openness and
transparency;
• Make the results of publicly funded research open,
accessible and exploitable;
• Transparency and openness to drive innovation
and growth.
Get the stuff out there and get it used!
Which means …..?
• Research outputs – including data must be
accessible to enable scrutiny & exploitation.
• Research funders have a responsibility to ensure
accessibility.
• Data management and access is part of the
research process and has to be paid for.
• Research institutions have a key role to play in the
process.
Overall Policy
• Data generated through Research Council funded
research should generally be accessible for
review, reuse and repurposing (aka data sharing)
– though protections and constraints are in
place.
RCUK Common Principles on Data Policy
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/
Pages/DataPolicy.aspx
Common Principles
• Data are a public good, to be made openly
available with as few restrictions as possible.
• Policies and plans, and long-term availability.
• Metadata for discovery and reuse.
• Protection from inappropriate release.
• Recognition and ‘right of first use’.
• Researchers to acknowledge data sources.
• Appropriate to use public funds to manage.
Current Position
• Council specific policies with a continuum of
responsibility – Institutional to PI.
• Community feedback – is at best confusing!
• Activity to harmonise policies – single RCUK
policy with recognition of discipline specific
differences.
• Royal Society ‘open science’ recommendations.
Data Policies for Big Science
• Does ‘big’ or ‘data intensive’ science need
different policies?
– No – principles are the same.
• Mechanisms and limits imposed by practicality
require pragmatic application of policy:
– Small science – heterogeneity problem;
– Big science – size / compute / infrastructure
problem.
Further information
• RCUK Common Principles on Data Policy
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/DataPolicy.aspx
• Royal Society Report
http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/science-public-enterprise/report/
[email protected]
Thank you for
listening
QUESTIONS ?
RCUK Key Principles
• Accessibility to publicly-funded research;
– Ideas and knowledge derived from publicly-funded
research must be made available and accessible
for public use, interrogation and scrutiny, as widely,
rapidly and effectively as practicable.
• Rigorous quality assurance;
• Efficient and cost-effective access mechanisms;
• Long-term preservation and accessibility of
outputs.
RCUK Key Principles
• Accessibility to publicly-funded research;
• Rigorous quality assurance;
– Published research outputs must be subject to
rigorous quality assurance, through effective peer
review mechanisms.
• Efficient and cost-effective access mechanisms;
• Long-term preservation and accessibility of
outputs.
RCUK Key Principles
• Accessibility to publicly-funded research;
• Rigorous quality assurance;
• Efficient and cost-effective access mechanisms;
– The models and mechanisms for publication and
access to research results must be both efficient
and cost-effective in the use of public funds.
• Long-term preservation and accessibility of
outputs.
RCUK Key Principles
•
•
•
•
Accessibility to publicly-funded research;
Rigorous quality assurance;
Efficient and cost-effective access mechanisms;
Long-term preservation and accessibility of
outputs.
– The outputs from current and future research must
be preserved and remain accessible for future
generations.