Search results

1 – 3 of 3
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 6 June 2018

Wolfgang Zenk-Möltgen, Esra Akdeniz, Alexia Katsanidou, Verena Naßhoven and Ebru Balaban

Open data and data sharing should improve transparency of research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different institutional and individual factors affect the data…

1615

Abstract

Purpose

Open data and data sharing should improve transparency of research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different institutional and individual factors affect the data sharing behavior of authors of research articles in sociology and political science.

Design/methodology/approach

Desktop research analyzed attributes of sociology and political science journals (n=262) from their websites. A second data set of articles (n=1,011; published 2012-2014) was derived from ten of the main journals (five from each discipline) and stated data sharing was examined. A survey of the authors used the Theory of Planned Behavior to examine motivations, behavioral control, and perceived norms for sharing data. Statistical tests (Spearman’s ρ, χ2) examined correlations and associations.

Findings

Although many journals have a data policy for their authors (78 percent in sociology, 44 percent in political science), only around half of the empirical articles stated that the data were available, and for only 37 percent of the articles could the data be accessed. Journals with higher impact factors, those with a stated data policy, and younger journals were more likely to offer data availability. Of the authors surveyed, 446 responded (44 percent). Statistical analysis indicated that authors’ attitudes, reported past behavior, social norms, and perceived behavioral control affected their intentions to share data.

Research limitations/implications

Less than 50 percent of the authors contacted provided responses to the survey. Results indicate that data sharing would improve if journals had explicit data sharing policies but authors also need support from other institutions (their universities, funding councils, and professional associations) to improve data management skills and infrastructures.

Originality/value

This paper builds on previous similar research in sociology and political science and explains some of the barriers to data sharing in social sciences by combining journal policies, published articles, and authors’ responses to a survey.

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 9 September 2014

Wolfgang Zenk-Möltgen and Greta Lepthien

Data sharing is key for replication and re-use in empirical research. Scientific journals can play a central role by establishing data policies and providing technologies. The…

2757

Abstract

Purpose

Data sharing is key for replication and re-use in empirical research. Scientific journals can play a central role by establishing data policies and providing technologies. The purpose of this paper is to analyses the factors which influence data sharing by investigating journal data policies and the behaviour of authors in sociology.

Design/methodology/approach

The web sites of 140 sociology journals were consulted to check their data policy. The results are compared with similar studies from political science and economics. A broad selection of articles published in five selected journals over a period of two years are examined to determine whether authors really cite and share their data and the factors which are related to this.

Findings

Although only a few sociology journals have explicit data policies, most journals make reference to a common policy supplied by their association of publishers. Among the journals selected, relatively few articles provide data citations and even fewer make data available – this is true both for journals with and without a data policy. But authors writing for journals with higher impact factors and with data policies are more likely to cite data and to make it really accessible.

Originality/value

No study of journal data policies has been undertaken to date for the domain of sociology. A comparison of authors’ behaviours regarding data availability, data citation, and data accessibility for journals with or without a data policy provides useful information about the factors which improve data sharing.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 38 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 12 December 2017

Libby Bishop and Daniel Gray

The focus of this chapter is the intersection of social media, publication, data sharing, and research ethics. By now there is an extensive literature on the use of social media…

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is the intersection of social media, publication, data sharing, and research ethics. By now there is an extensive literature on the use of social media in research. There is also excellent work on challenges of postpublication sharing of social media, primarily focused on legal restrictions, technical infrastructure, and documentation. This chapter attempts to build upon and extend this work by using cases to deepen the analysis of ethical issues arising from publishing and sharing social media data. Publishing will refer to the presentation of data extracts, aggregations, or summaries, while sharing refers to the practice of making the underlying data available postpublication for others to use. It will look at the ethical questions that arise both for researchers (or others) sharing data, and those who are using data that has been made available by others, emphasizing the inherently relational nature of data sharing. The ethical challenges researchers face when considering sharing user-generated content collected from social media platforms are the focus of the cases. The chapter begins by summarizing the general principles of research ethics, then identifies the specific ethical challenges from sharing social media data and positions these challenges in the context of these general principles. These challenges are then analyzed in more detail with cases from research projects that drew upon several different genres of social media. The chapter concludes with some recommendations for practical guidance and considers the future of ethical practice in sharing social media data.

Details

The Ethics of Online Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-486-6

Keywords

1 – 3 of 3
Per page
102050