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The sharing of research data facing the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Rut Lucas-Dominguez

    (University of Valencia
    UISYS, Joint Research Unit CSIC–University of Valencia
    CIBERONC)

  • Adolfo Alonso-Arroyo

    (University of Valencia
    UISYS, Joint Research Unit CSIC–University of Valencia)

  • Antonio Vidal-Infer

    (University of Valencia
    UISYS, Joint Research Unit CSIC–University of Valencia)

  • Rafael Aleixandre-Benavent

    (UISYS, Joint Research Unit CSIC–University of Valencia
    Ingenio (CSIC-Politechnic University of Valencia), Ciudad Politécnica de La Innovación)

Abstract

During the previous Ebola and Zika outbreaks, researchers shared their data, allowing many published epidemiological studies to be produced only from open research data, to speed up investigations and control of these infections. This study aims to evaluate the dissemination of the COVID-19 research data underlying scientific publications. Analysis of COVID-19 publications from December 1, 2019, to April 30, 2020, was conducted through the PubMed Central repository to evaluate the research data available through its publication as supplementary material or deposited in repositories. The PubMed Central search generated 5,905 records, of which 804 papers included complementary research data, especially as supplementary material (77.4%). The most productive journals were The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the most frequent keyword was pneumonia, and the most used repositories were GitHub and GenBank. An expected growth in the number of published articles following the course of the pandemics is confirmed in this work, while the underlying research data are only 13.6%. It can be deduced that data sharing is not a common practice, even in health emergencies, such as the present one. High-impact generalist journals have accounted for a large share of global publishing. The topics most often covered are related to epidemiological and public health concepts, genetics, virology and respiratory diseases, such as pneumonia. However, it is essential to interpret these data with caution following the evolution of publications and their funding in the coming months.

Suggested Citation

  • Rut Lucas-Dominguez & Adolfo Alonso-Arroyo & Antonio Vidal-Infer & Rafael Aleixandre-Benavent, 2021. "The sharing of research data facing the COVID-19 pandemic," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(6), pages 4975-4990, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:126:y:2021:i:6:d:10.1007_s11192-021-03971-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-03971-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lisa M Federer & Christopher W Belter & Douglas J Joubert & Alicia Livinski & Ya-Ling Lu & Lissa N Snyders & Holly Thompson, 2018. "Data sharing in PLOS ONE: An analysis of Data Availability Statements," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-12, May.
    2. Alawi A Alsheikh-Ali & Waqas Qureshi & Mouaz H Al-Mallah & John P A Ioannidis, 2011. "Public Availability of Published Research Data in High-Impact Journals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(9), pages 1-4, September.
    3. Carol Tenopir & Elizabeth D Dalton & Suzie Allard & Mike Frame & Ivanka Pjesivac & Ben Birch & Danielle Pollock & Kristina Dorsett, 2015. "Changes in Data Sharing and Data Reuse Practices and Perceptions among Scientists Worldwide," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.
    4. Ilaria Capua, 2016. "A code of conduct for data on epidemics," Nature, Nature, vol. 534(7607), pages 326-326, June.
    5. Piwowar, Heather A. & Chapman, Wendy W., 2010. "Public sharing of research datasets: A pilot study of associations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 148-156.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandre López-Borrull & Mari Vállez & Candela Ollé & Mario Pérez-Montoro, 2021. "Publisher Transparency among Communications and Library and Information Science Journals: Analysis and Recommendations," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-12, November.
    2. Josip Strcic & Antonia Civljak & Terezija Glozinic & Rafael Leite Pacheco & Tonci Brkovic & Livia Puljak, 2022. "Open data and data sharing in articles about COVID-19 published in preprint servers medRxiv and bioRxiv," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2791-2802, May.

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