How Do Astronomers Share Data? Reliability and Persistence of Datasets Linked in AAS Publications and a Qualitative Study of Data Practices among US Astronomers
View/ Open
Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104798Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Pepe, Alberto, Alyssa Goodman, August Muench, Merce Crosas, and Christopher Erdmann. 2014. “How Do Astronomers Share Data? Reliability and Persistence of Datasets Linked in AAS Publications and a Qualitative Study of Data Practices among US Astronomers.” PLoS ONE 9 (8): e104798. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0104798. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104798.Abstract
We analyze data sharing practices of astronomers over the past fifteen years. An analysis of URL links embedded in papers published by the American Astronomical Society reveals that the total number of links included in the literature rose dramatically from 1997 until 2005, when it leveled off at around 1500 per year. The analysis also shows that the availability of linked material decays with time: in 2011, 44% of links published a decade earlier, in 2001, were broken. A rough analysis of link types reveals that links to data hosted on astronomers' personal websites become unreachable much faster than links to datasets on curated institutional sites. To gauge astronomers' current data sharing practices and preferences further, we performed in-depth interviews with 12 scientists and online surveys with 173 scientists, all at a large astrophysical research institute in the United States: the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, MA. Both the in-depth interviews and the online survey indicate that, in principle, there is no philosophical objection to data-sharing among astronomers at this institution. Key reasons that more data are not presently shared more efficiently in astronomy include: the difficulty of sharing large data sets; over reliance on non-robust, non-reproducible mechanisms for sharing data (e.g. emailing it); unfamiliarity with options that make data-sharing easier (faster) and/or more robust; and, lastly, a sense that other researchers would not want the data to be shared. We conclude with a short discussion of a new effort to implement an easy-to-use, robust, system for data sharing in astronomy, at theastrodata.org, and we analyze the uptake of that system to-date.Other Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4148308/pdf/Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#LAACitable link to this page
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12785853
Collections
- FAS Scholarly Articles [18292]
Contact administrator regarding this item (to report mistakes or request changes)
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
When Does Model-Based Control Pay Off?
Kool, Wouter; Cushman, Fiery A.; Gershman, Samuel J. (Public Library of Science, 2016)Many accounts of decision making and reinforcement learning posit the existence of two distinct systems that control choice: a fast, automatic system and a slow, deliberative system. Recent research formalizes this distinction ... -
Spaceflight Activates Lipotoxic Pathways in Mouse Liver
Jonscher, Karen R.; Alfonso-Garcia, Alba; Suhalim, Jeffrey L.; Orlicky, David J.; Potma, Eric O.; Ferguson, Virginia L.; Bouxsein, Mary L.; Bateman, Ted A.; Stodieck, Louis S.; Levi, Moshe; Friedman, Jacob E.; Gridley, Daila S.; Pecaut, Michael J. (Public Library of Science, 2016)Spaceflight affects numerous organ systems in the body, leading to metabolic dysfunction that may have long-term consequences. Microgravity-induced alterations in liver metabolism, particularly with respect to lipids, ... -
Polymer Amide as an Early Topology
McGeoch, Julie E. M.; McGeoch, Malcolm W. (Public Library of Science, 2014)Hydrophobic polymer amide (HPA) could have been one of the first normal density materials to accrete in space. We present ab initio calculations of the energetics of amino acid polymerization via gas phase collisions. The ...