Research Ideas and Outcomes : Grant Proposal
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Corresponding author: Cameron Neylon (cn@cameronneylon.net)
Received: 17 Apr 2016 | Published: 18 Apr 2016
© 2016 International Development Research Centre.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Neylon C, Chan L (2016) Exploring the opportunities and challenges of implementing open research strategies within development institutions. Research Ideas and Outcomes 2: e8880. doi: 10.3897/rio.2.e8880
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This research proposal calls for support for a pilot project to conduct open data pilot case studies with eight (8) IDRC grantees to develop and implement open data management and sharing plans. The results of the case studies will serve to refine guidelines for the implementation of development research funders’ open research data policies. The case studies will examine the scale of legal, ethical and technical challenges that might limit the sharing of data from IDRC projects including issues of:
The duration of the current project will be fifteen (16) months, commencing September 2015 and ending in December 2016. The project will focus on auditing the data being produced by the participating projects, supporting the development of data management and sharing plans, and surfacing and cataloguing issues that arise.
data sharing, research data management, development, data management plan, research policy, mandate
Given that there is a close link between research data and research publications, and that data constitutes a primary form of research output, it is appropriate that research funders’ open access policies address the issue of open research data (
Transitioning to an open research data policy raises a number of issues (
Most existing funder data sharing requirements have been developed by western funders of natural sciences and biomedical research. The most recent surveys (see references in Hodson and Molloy) of funder policies in this area are somewhat out of date as the policy environment is in flux.
This checklist provides a useful frame within which to both consider and critique the proposed IDRC policy as well as testing the capacity of individual projects to share data and the limitations they face. In particular a focus on points 3, 4, 5, and 7 will be helpful.
Very little work has been done examining open data policies in the context of development research specifically. Using Hodson and Molloy as a framing device derived largely from considerations of those funders in Europe and North America will allow us to test and extend this to include aspects specific to development research. This project will serve to inform open access to research data policies of development research funders through pilot testing open data management plan guidelines with a set of IDRC grantees.
The general objective of this project is to develop a model open research data policy and implementation guidelines for development research funders to enable greater access to development data.
The specific objectives are to:
The overarching research question is: What are the essential components of an effective open access to research data policy for development research funders?
We will attempt to answer this question by generating, testing and refining a set of open data implementation guidelines through a series of pilot studies. We will use the framework of Hodson and Molloy to guide our analysis. We will also test the completeness of framework with respect to the specific issues of development research funders.
The project includes three components
This will include an updated review of extant policies, scoping out the existing online resources that support data storage, interviews with research funders with open access to research data policies and with researchers who have implemented open access data management plans. The framework of Hodson and Molloy will be used to interrogate the policies. A particular focus will be the practical experience of funders on how policy decisions have an impact on the volume and quality of data sharing in practice.
Eight (8) open data pilot studies will be conducted with volunteer IDRC grantees with new and ongoing projects. This principally involves support (both financial and technical) for the development and implementation of an open data management plan. These eight cases will include a cross-section of IDRC supported research, as well as levels of capacity with respect to the management of open data.
The case studies will focus: on the following research questions:
A maximum of eight projects will be included in the pilot. The projects should span the program areas supported by IDRC. The selection of projects will include:
Each participating project will be engaged in a process of auditing the data that they have, or expect to, produce as a precursor to developing a Data Management Plan. Where possible existing tools, such as the Digital Curation Centre DMP Online tool, will be used to develop DMPs. We will test the applicability and usability of these tools in a development research context. DMPs will include assessment of the following issues:
The pilot will also include online training via video conference to build the capacity of grantees and IDRC staff around open data management. Project staff resources will be provided to participating grantees to support data sharing activities and training will be provided. Expert monitoring throughout the project will support these activities.
Through the development of the Data Management and Sharing Plan, the data audit and provision of online training the project team will agree to goals with each participating pilot project. After four months each project will be interviewed to determine progress against those agreed goals. Goals will then be refined for the second half of the project. These reports and interviews will be used to support a case study report for each project.
After eight months the reporting process will be repeated in preparation for the final wrap up meeting (below). A report template and structured interviews will be used to identify issues and challenges throughout the project. The availability and discoverability of data products from the project alongside the agreed goals will be used as the prompts for reporting and interviews.
As discussed above we will use the framework of Hodson and Molloy to organise and interrogate the challenges that projects face in sharing data. In particular there will be a focus on specific challenges associated with the limits to openness, scope of data to be included, and technical capacities that arise in a development research context.
Case studies and feedback from the eight pilot project participants will be used to inform IDRC of specific issues that arise from data sharing in the context of these projects. The project will provide advice on refining the open research data policy guidelines in collaboration with the IDRC grantees. It will propose guidelines on Data Management and Storage based on the experience in the development research context.
The project will also collaborate with the grantees to determine if there is an interest and willingness within the group to share their knowledge and experience in a community of practice. If there is, it will determine if support is required by the group to establish goals, roles and responsibilities, and to identify a mode of communication.
The project will be supported by an expert advisory group (EAG) that will meet twice during the project and provide advice for specific pilot project participants. The EAG will meet at the beginning of the project to identify initial issues on implementation and policy with the IDRC policy. This meeting will then include project participants and discussion of challenges and issues that may arise, as well as approaches to overcoming them. The EAG will also participate in an assessment meeting at the end of the project both to critique the progress made by the pilot projects and to test the recommendations arising from the project.
Goals of the initial meeting:
At the final wrap up meeting the research lead of each participating project will be expected to participate at a roundup workshop at the conclusion of the pilot to share experience and lessons learned. The reporting (above) will be used as the basis for discussion with reflection based on draft case studies for response from the participants and experts.
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Risk Assessment and Recommendations
Risk Category |
Risk Description |
Risk Likelihood High, Medium or Low |
Prevention Plan |
Risks to achievements of objectives |
An insufficient number of volunteer projects to participate in the pilot case studies are identified. |
M |
The call to Program Officers will be made through a variety of channels – PA Directors, Lyris lists and Friday coffee and the significance of the RSP will be clearly articulated. |
An insufficient number of volunteer projects are working with knowledge within indigenous contexts. |
M |
Program Officers responsible for projects working with indigenous knowledge will be identified and targeted. |
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Program Officers do not have sufficient time to participate in the project. |
H |
The time commitment required from Program Officers will be described in the call and their ability to participate effectively in the project will be confirmed before their participation is finalized. |
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Risks to timing |
The pilot case studies are not completed within eight (8) months. |
M |
The mentors and their grantees will collaborate on work plans with deliverables and completion dates. The work plans will be monitored by the principal investigators and the responsible officer. |
Ethics considerations |
Knowledge from indigenous sources cannot be made open due to IP rights concerns. |
M |
Examine this ethics consideration at the outset and determine how the needs/rights of all parties (grantees and indigenous participants) can be met. |
Grantees capacity risk |
Grantees do not have sufficient time to participate in the project. |
M |
The time commitment required from grantees will be accurately described in the call to Program Officers and confirmed before the volunteer grantees are selected. |
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Grantees do not have the knowledge and experience required to manage and share research data. |
L |
The project workshop and project mentors will provide knowledge and support. |
While there have been a range of data policy implementation projects across a range of research funders this IDRC project treads new ground in investigating research data sharing in the specific context of development research. This raises both issues of data ownership and ethics that are specific to development research as well as raising more prominently issues that are common to research data sharing generally.
Two core audiences are therefore research funders engaged in development issues, particularly those with a strong position on data sharing more generally (Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation, and DFID) and research funders concerned more broadly with developing strong practice in collaboration and data sharing (with a focus on Canadian funders of the Tri-Council Group). Our focus will be on directly engaging the first group (through involvement in the workshop and wrap up meeting) and engaging the broader research funder community more generally through published reports, best practice documents, at meetings such as the Research Data Alliance, FORCE2016 etc. and potentially through a new community of practice around open data management and sharing planning.
Exploring the opportunities and challenges of implementing open research strategies within development institutions. IDRC Project:108131
The project will be exploring ethical considerations related to the release of research data to the public. Of note, individual privacy concerns and issues of intellectual property will be studied within the eight case studies. Each case study implementer will also be asked to conform with the ethical protocols of their respective institutions and projects. All data sharing will be carried out by the projects themselves within existing regulatory, ethical and contractual arrangements that are in place.
LC and CN planned and wrote the proposal. The proposal was refined through multiple rounds of discussion with IDRC.
A translation of the proposal into French. IDRC operates in both English and French as a Canadian Crown Corporation.
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