Archives des mots-clés : research data

The research data life cycle, legacy data, and dilemmas in research data management

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Authors : Jenny Bossaller, Anthony J. Million

This paper presents findings from an interview study of research data managers in academic data archives. Our study examined policies and professional autonomy with a focus on dilemmas encountered in everyday work by data managers.

We found that dilemmas arose at every stage of the research data lifecycle, and legacy data presents particularly vexing challenges. The iFields’ emphasis on knowledge organization and representation provides insight into how data, used by scientists, are used to create knowledge.

The iFields’ disciplinary emphasis also encompasses the sociotechnical complexity of dilemmas that we found arise in research data management. Therefore, we posit that iSchools are positioned to contribute to data science education by teaching about ethics and infrastructure used to collect, organize, and disseminate data through problem-based learning.

URL : The research data life cycle, legacy data, and dilemmas in research data management

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24645

Assessing Open Science Practices in Phytolith Research

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Author : Emma Karoune

Open science is an integral part of all scientific research, but the extent of open science practices in phytolith research is unknown. Phytolith analysis examines silica bodies that are initially formed within and between plant cells during the life of the plant but become deposited in sediments once the plant dies.

The use of phytoliths in archaeobotanical and palaeoecological studies has been increasing in recent years resulting in an upsurge in publications. The aims of this article are to assess open science practices in phytolith research by reviewing data and metadata sharing, and open access, in a sample of journal articles containing primary phytolith data from 16 prominent archaeological and palaeoecological journals (341 articles).

This study builds on similar studies conducted for zooarchaeology (Kansa et al. 2020) and macro-botanical remains (Lodwick 2019). This study shows that 53% of papers shared data in any format but only 4% of papers contained reusable data, 74% included some pictures of phytolith morphotypes for identification purposes, 69% had a fully described method, 47% used the International code for phytolith nomenclature (ICPN 1.0) and only 13% of articles were open access.

Steps forward are then proposed, including planning for open projects, making more articles openly accessible and implementing the FAIR data principles, to use as a starting point for discussions in the wider phytolith and archaeological communities to develop guidelines for greater integration of open science practices.

URL : Assessing Open Science Practices in Phytolith Research

DOI : http://doi.org/10.5334/oq.88

Extraction and validation of scientific data for the identification of publications in open access journals

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Authors : Patrícia Mascarenhas Dias, Thiago Magela Rodrigues Dias, Gray Farias Moita, Adilson Luiz Pinto

This work aims to identify articles published in open access journals registered in the Lattes Platform curricula. Currently, the curricular data from the Lattes Platform has been the source of several studies that adopt bibliometric metrics to understand scientific evolution in Brazil. However, when registering a publication in a curriculum, only basic information from the magazine is informed.

Therefore, to quantify the publications made in open access journals, a strategy is proposed that uses data from the Directory of Open Access Journals, validating the publications and, thus, obtaining a process that allows identifying which publications were made in this communication format.

Therefore, using the proposed methodology, which has a low computational cost, it was possible to quantify in an unprecedented way the publications of Brazilians in open access journals registered in the curricula of the Lattes Platform.

In addition, having the authors’ data of the publications, it was possible to understand how these authors are geographically distributed in the country, what their areas of operation are and how they have published the results of their research in open access.

It is noteworthy that they are generally published in Portuguese and English. Over the last few years, the representativeness of publications in open access journals has increased.

URL : Extraction and validation of scientific data for the identification of publications in open access journals

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1590/2318-0889202234e210040

To protect and to serve: developing a road map for research data management services

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Authors: Andrea Chiarelli, Neil Beagrie, Lotte Boon, Ruth Mallalieu, Rob Johnson, Amy Warner May, Rowan Wilso

Research Data Management (RDM) has become a major issue for universities over the last decade. This case study outlines the review of RDM services carried out at the University of Oxford in partnership with external consultants between November 2019 and November 2020.

It aims to describe and discuss the processes in undertaking a university-wide review of services supporting RDM and developing a future road map for them, with a strong emphasis on the design processes, methodological approaches and infographics used. The future road map developed is a live document, which the consulting team handed over to the University at the end of the consultation process.

It provides a suggested RDM action plan for the University that will continue to evolve and be iterated in the light of additional internal costings, available resources and reprioritization in the budget cycle for each academic year.

It is hoped that the contents of this case study will be useful to other research-intensive universities with an interest in developing and planning RDM services to support their researchers.

URL : To protect and to serve: developing a road map for research data management services

DOI : http://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.566

Traces archéologiques et archives de fouille. Des recherches pluridisciplinaires sur les opportunités et les contraintes des pratiques en contexte numérique

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Auteur : Christophe Tuffery

Les relations qu’entretiennent les professionnels de l’archéologie aux traces archéologiques et aux archives de fouille qui regroupent documentation et mobiliers recueillis sont très variées. Elles ont beaucoup évolué au cours de l’histoire de la discipline en raison de grandes différences dans les méthodes de fouille et dans les pratiques de production, de gestion et de conservation de ces archives.

Cet article revient sur cette évolution, en évoquant d’abord une approche historiographique. Au cours des années 1960 l’apparition de l’informatique dans les sciences humaines et sociales, puis leur déploiement de plus en plus large et rapide depuis les années 1980 avec le développement de la micro-informatique personnelle, ont conduit à un changement important dans les conditions de production de ces archives, du terrain à leur restitution sur divers supports, dont ceux relevant du régime numérique.

Certes, les dispositifs numériques offrent d’indéniables opportunités pour la diffusion d’archives de fouille anciennes et récentes comme le montrent certains projets évoqués ici. Mais ils impliquent aussi des changements dans les pratiques de production, de gestion, d’indexation, de conservation, de partage des archives de fouille qui, par souci d’interopérabilité technique et sémantique, imposent des contraintes dans les formalismes et les contenus de ces archives en régime numérique.

Nous nous appuyons ici sur divers projets de recherche et sur notre thèse en cours qui adopte un point de vue réflexif sur notre propre pratique et sur celles d’autres chercheurs de divers champs disciplinaires pour mettre en perspective les différentes sources documentaires mobilisées et nos observations.

URL : http://intelligibilite-numerique.numerev.com/numeros/n-2-2021/2618-traces-archeologiques-et-archives-de-fouille-des-recherches-pluridisciplinaires-sur-les-opportunites-et-les-contraintes-des-pratiques-en-contexte-numerique

Integrative data reuse at scientifically significant sites: Case studies at Yellowstone National Park and the La Brea Tar Pits

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Author : Andrea K. Thomer

Scientifically significant sites are the source of, and long-term repository for, considerable amounts of data—particularly in the natural sciences. However, the unique data practices of the researchers and resource managers at these sites have been relatively understudied.

Through case studies of two scientifically significant sites (the hot springs at Yellowstone National Park and the fossil deposits at the La Brea Tar Pits), I developed rich descriptions of site-based research and data curation, and high-level data models of information classes needed to support integrative data reuse.

Each framework treats the geospatial site and its changing natural characteristics as a distinct class of information; more commonly considered information classes such as observational and sampling data, and project metadata, are defined in relation to the site itself.

This work contributes (a) case studies of the values and data needs for researchers and resource managers at scientifically significant sites, (b) an information framework to support integrative reuse at these sites, and (c) a discussion of data practices at scientifically significant sites.

URL : Integrative data reuse at scientifically significant sites: Case studies at Yellowstone National Park and the La Brea Tar Pits

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24620

Research data management systems and the organization of universities and research institutes: A systematic literature review

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Author : Eva Katharina Donner

New technological developments, the availability of big data, and the creation of research platforms open a variety of opportunities to generate, store, and analyze research data. To ensure the sustainable handling of research data, the European Commission as well as scientific commissions have recently highlighted the importance of implementing a research data management system (RDMS) in higher education institutes (HEI) which combines technical as well as organizational solutions.

A deep understanding of the requirements of research data management (RDM), as well as an overview of the different stakeholders, is a key prerequisite for the implementation of an RDMS.

Based on a scientific literature review, the aim of this study is to answer the following research questions: “What organizational factors need to be considered when implementing an RDMS? How do these organizational factors interact with each other and how do they constrain or facilitate the implementation of an RDMS?”

The structure of the analysis is built on the four components of Leavitt’s classical model of organizational change: task, structure, technology, and people. The findings reveal that the implementation of RDMS is strongly impacted by the organizational structure, infrastructure, labor culture as well as strategic considerations.

Overall, this literature review summarizes different approaches for the implementation of an RDMS. It also identifies areas for future research.

URL : Research data management systems and the organization of universities and research institutes: A systematic literature review

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1177%2F09610006211070282