Data sharing in PLOS ONE: An analysis of Data Availability Statements

Abstract

A number of publishers and funders, including PLOS, have recently adopted policies requiring researchers to share the data underlying their results and publications. Such policies help increase the reproducibility of the published literature, as well as make a larger body of data available for reuse and re-analysis. In this study, we evaluate the extent to which authors have complied with this policy by analyzing Data Availability Statements from 47,593 papers published in PLOS ONE between March 2014 (when the policy went into effect) and May 2016. Our analysis shows that compliance with the policy has increased, with a significant decline over time in papers that did not include a Data Availability Statement. However, only about 20% of statements indicate that data are deposited in a repository, which the PLOS policy states is the preferred method. More commonly, authors state that their data are in the paper itself or in the supplemental information, though it is unclear whether these data meet the level of sharing required in the PLOS policy. These findings suggest that additional review of Data Availability Statements or more stringent policies may be needed to increase data sharing.

The citation advantage of linking publications to research data

“…Category 3 covers, for both publishers, just a fraction of DAS: 12.2% (BMC) and 20.8% (PLOS) respectively. This is in line with previous literature finding that only about 20% of PLOS One articles between March 2014 and May 2016 contain a link to a repository in their DAS [16]. We also note that individual journals show a significant degree of variation with respect to their DAS category distributions.…”

“…Several studies explored compliance with journal data sharing policies [11][12][13][14][15]. For example, DAS in PLOS journals have been found to be significantly on the rise, after a mandated policy has been introduced, even if providing data in a repository remains a sharing method used only in a fraction of articles [16]. This is a known problem more generally: DAS contain links to data (and software) repositories only too rarely [17][18][19].…”

Make scientific data FAIR

“…Most researchers come up against obstacles when they try to get their hands on data sets. Only one-fifth of published papers typically post the supporting data in scientific repositories -as has been shown by PLoS ONE 1 .…”

Recent developments in scholarly publishing to improve research practices in the life sciences

“…Both funders and journals are now making stronger statements about what research materials (data, computer programs, reagents) should be shared upon publication of the corresponding articles. Although these policies should increase data availability and reuse, compliance rates are fairly low [8]. Given that it can take considerable time and effort (for both researchers and journals) to ensure data are appropriately shared, these low-uptake rates are perhaps expected.…”