A Study of Data Sharing by Authors Published in Scientific Journals

Abstract

Generating a research idea and a hypothesis, planning, and gathering materials for an experiment, seeking institutional review board (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IUCAC) approval, obtaining funding and support, conducting an experiment and analyzing data, and reporting conclusions and sharing the results with the community are all parts of scientific research. As educators, we often focus on the early steps when conducting research with undergraduates and teaching course-based undergraduate research (CURE) courses. In a classroom setting, we shifted the focus to how research is authored and reported and how data is shared. Journals and funding agencies have instituted new policies for authors regarding data reporting in databases and supplementary information in recent years. In this classroom exercise CURE project, students learned how to conduct a study with IRB approval, write professional queries, collect and analyze data, and report results, as well as important information about the scientific publishing enterprise and data sharing. One of the primary goals of the scientific community is the sharing and spread of information to further advance research and our understanding of the world. Therefore, sharing data between researchers and authors is paramount to the success of our community and to the education of forensic science students. It is as important to teach students the tenets of the scientific method as the process and ethics of sharing data.