Date: July 22, 2009
Contacts: Sara Frueh, Media Relations Officer
Alison Burnette, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail <news@nas.edu>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Report Offers Principles for Maintaining the Integrity
And Accessibility of Research Data
Maintaining the integrity and accessibility of research data in a rapidly evolving digital age will take the collective efforts of universities and other research institutions, journals, agencies, and individual scientists, says a new report from the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, which recommends principles to guide these stakeholders in generating, sharing, and maintaining scientific data.
Research institutions need to ensure that every investigator receives appropriate training in conducting research and managing data responsibly, the report says. And these institutions, along with professional societies, journals, and research sponsors, should develop and disseminate standards for ensuring the integrity of research data and update specific data-management guidelines to account for new technologies. After an investigation by the Journal of Cell Biology revealed that a significant number of images submitted to them had been inappropriately manipulated, for example, the journal issued guidelines on acceptable and unacceptable ways to alter images. Ultimately, though, researchers themselves are responsible for ensuring the integrity of their research data, said the committee that wrote the report.
The report recommends that researchers -- both publicly and privately funded -- make the data and methods underlying their reported results public in a timely manner, except in unusual cases where there is a compelling reason not to do so, such as concern about national security or health privacy. In such cases, researchers should publicly explain why data are being withheld. But the default position should be that data will be shared -- a practice that allows data and conclusions to be verified, contributes to further scientific advances, and allows the development of beneficial goods and services.
Research data can be valuable for many years after they are generated -- for verifying results and generating new findings -- but maintaining high-quality and reliable databases can be costly, the report observes. Researchers should establish data-management plans at the beginning of each research project that provide for the stewardship of data, and research sponsors should recognize that financial support for data professionals is an appropriate part of supporting research. Professional societies should provide investigators with guidance about which data should be saved for the long term and which can be discarded.
The report was sponsored by the National Research Council, U.S. Department of Agriculture, NASA, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Energy, Eli Lilly and Co., Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Nature Publishing Group, the Rockefeller University Press, New England Journal of Medicine, American Chemical Society, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geophysical Union, and IEEE. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering,
Copies of Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
[ This news release and report are available at http://national-academies.org ]
NATIONAL
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy
Committee on Ensuring the Utility and Integrity of Research Data in a Digital Age
Daniel Kleppner1 (co-chair)
Lester Wolfe Professor of Physics, Emeritus
Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Phillip A. Sharp1,2 (co-chair)
Institute Professor
David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Margaret A. Berger
Professor of Law
Norman M. Bradburn
Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus
John I. Brauman1
J.G. Jackson - C.J. Wood Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus
Department of Chemistry
Jennifer T. Chayes
Managing Director
Microsoft Research,
Anita K. Jones3
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Linda P.B. Katehi3
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Urbana-Champaign
Neal F. Lane1
Senior Fellow of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy
W. Carl Lineberger1
E.U. Condon Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and
Fellow
Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics
Richard E. Luce
Vice Provost and Director of Libraries
Thomas O. McGarity
Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair in Administrative Law
Steven M. Paul2
Executive Vice President for Science and Technology, and
President
Lilly Research Laboratories
Eli Lilly and
Teresa Sullivan
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and
Professor of Sociology
Michael S. Turner1
Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor, and
Chair
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
J. Anthony Tyson1
Distinguished Professor of Physics
Department of Physics
Steven Wofsy
Abbott Lawrence Rotch Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
Tom Arrison
Study Director