FLICKR, JUKKA ZITTING
Researchers are, by in large, not making their raw data publically available, even when the journals they publish studies in ask them to do so, according to a study of 500 papers published in the 50 highest-impact journals in 2009. Additionally, the journals' policies regarding such data sharing vary widely. Almost half of the journals surveyed required that authors publish post their raw data on publically accessible databases, while just as many encouraged such data sharing without mandating it. Publication guidelines at a handful of the journals make no mention of public data sharing at all, the study found.
The survey, published last week in PLoS ONE, included 351 papers bound by some data-sharing policy but found that less than half of these (only 143) ...
