Latest Articles from Research Ideas and Outcomes Latest 14 Articles from Research Ideas and Outcomes https://riojournal.com/ Fri, 29 Mar 2024 09:33:16 +0200 Pensoft FeedCreator https://riojournal.com/i/logo.jpg Latest Articles from Research Ideas and Outcomes https://riojournal.com/ Support Your Data: A Research Data Management Guide for Researchers https://riojournal.com/article/26439/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 4: e26439

DOI: 10.3897/rio.4.e26439

Authors: John Borghi, Stephen Abrams, Daniella Lowenberg, Stephanie Simms, John Chodacki

Abstract: Researchers are faced with rapidly evolving expectations about how they should manage and share their data, code, and other research materials. To help them meet these expectations and generally manage and share their data more effectively, we are developing a suite of tools which we are currently referring to as "Support Your Data". These tools, which include a rubric designed to enable researchers to self-assess their current data management practices and a series of short guides which provide actionable information about how to advance practices as necessary or desired, are intended to be easily customizable to meet the needs of a researchers working in a variety of institutional and disciplinary contexts.

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Project Report Wed, 9 May 2018 10:17:23 +0300
The project EcoNAOS: vision and practice towards an open approach in the Northern Adriatic Sea ecological observatory https://riojournal.com/article/24224/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 4: e24224

DOI: 10.3897/rio.4.e24224

Authors: Annalisa Minelli, Alessandro Oggioni, Alessandra Pugnetti, Alessandro Sarretta, Mauro Bastianini, Caterina Bergami, Fabrizio Bernardi Aubry, Elisa Camatti, Tiziano Scovacricchi, Giorgio Socal

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Research Idea Tue, 6 Feb 2018 09:27:40 +0200
Case Study: Brazilian Virtual Herbarium https://riojournal.com/article/21852/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21852

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21852

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: The Brazilian Virtual Herbarium (BVH) is one of Brazil's National Institutes of Science and Technology (a program of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, CNPq) that has been running since 2009. The Virtual Herbarium provides an infrastructure that gathers digital records of plant specimens from primary source, mainly in Brazil, and makes them available through a central web portal. The source herbaria have complete control over what data is made through the portal and the data collected by BVH is made fully available. BVH in common with many data infrastructures, faces challenges in retaining funding. Most funding sources are project based and as has been noted elsewhere this creates problems for the sustaining of infrastructures. BVH therefore has an interest in demonstrating the use of the data resources it hosts. Through the OCSDNet project it has strengthened its capacity in this area to develop tools showing its wide usage. Overall the BVH hosts over eight million records (as of October 2017) and received 70 billion data requests in October 2017. Its users are mainly in Brazil but there is also substantial global usage. The primary uses are for research and education. There are a broad range of educational users, including universities but also schools. Through providing a central aggregation and access point BHV provides a data infrastructure that is greater – and more useful – than the sum of its parts.

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Case Study Thu, 26 Oct 2017 12:48:41 +0300
Building a Culture of Data Sharing: Policy Design and Implementation for Research Data Management in Development Research https://riojournal.com/article/21773/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21773

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21773

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: A pilot project worked with seven existing projects funded by the International Development Research Center of Canada (IDRC) to investigate the implementation of data management and sharing requirements within development research projects. The seven projects, which were selected to achieve a diversity of project types, locations, host institutions and subject areas, demonstrated a broad range of existing capacities to work with data and access to technical expertise and infrastructures. The pilot project provided an introduction to data management and sharing concepts, helped projects develop a Data Management Plan, and then observed the implementation of that plan. In examining the uptake of Data Management and Sharing practice amongst these seven groups the project came to question the underlying goals of funders in introducing data management and sharing requirements. It was established that the ultimate goal was a change in culture amongst grantees. The project therefore looked for evidence of how funder interventions might promote or hinder such cultural change. The project had two core findings. First that the shift from an aim of changing behaviour, to changing culture, has both subtle and profound implications for policy design and implementation. A particular finding is that the single point of contact that many data management and sharing policies create where a Data Management Plan is required at grant submission but then not further utilised is at best neutral and likely counter productive in supporting change in researcher culture. As expected, there are significant bottlenecks within research institutions and for grantees in effectively sharing data including a lack of resources and expertise. However, a core finding is that many of the bottlenecks for change relate to structural issues at the funder level. Specifically, the expectation that policy initiatives are implemented, monitored, and evaluated by Program Officers who are the main point of contact for projects. The single most productive act to enhance policy implementation may be to empower and support Program Officers. This could be achieved through training and support of individual POs, through the creation of a group of internal experts who can support others, or via provision of external support, for instance by expanding the services provided by the pilot project into an ongoing support mechanism for both internal staff and grantees. Other significant findings include: the importance of language barriers and the way in which assumptions of English language in materials, resources, services and systems permeate the entire system; that data infrastructures are poorly served by current funding arrangements and tools, particularly where they are obliged to seek continuing funding through project grants. There are also fundamental questions raised by the status of digital objects as "data". The concept of data is part of a western scientific discourse which may be both incompatible with other cultures, particularly indigenous knowledge systems. More importantly that discourse may be incompatible with values-based approaches that seek to respect indigenous knowledge through a commitment to retaining context. With the possible exception of the last finding, none of these issues are exclusive to development research. The Development Research context surfaces them more strongly through its greater diversity of goals and contexts. In many ways this project illustrates not that Development Research has particular special needs, but that it is a site that surfaces issues in policy design and implementation deserving of more consideration across the research enterprise.

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Research Article Tue, 24 Oct 2017 08:43:54 +0300
Case Study: Strengthening the Economic Committee of the National Assembly in Vietnam https://riojournal.com/article/21699/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21699

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21699

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: The Centre for Analysis and Forecasting of Vietnam has an IDRC-funded project “Strengthening the Economic Committee of the National Assembly in Vietnam”. The project involved collecting survey data from a large number of businesses to support the work of the Economic Committee of the National Assembly (ECNA). The survey was conducted in several rounds with a baseline survey of 773 Enterprises in 2014 and three rounds of follow-up surveys in 2015 and 2016. The project’s aims were to improve the awareness and information for ECNA on small and medium enterprises across Vietnam and to strengthen the analytical capability of ECNA in assessing the impact of macroeconomic policy on SMEs. An important characteristic of the project is that it is focussed on supporting internal policy and economic discussions within Vietnam.

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Case Study Thu, 19 Oct 2017 08:14:27 +0300
Case Study: Neglected Health Issues in Niger https://riojournal.com/article/21700/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21700

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21700

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: The project “Problemes négligés du système de santé au Niger” focusses on a core set of often-neglected issues that nevertheless have an overall negative impact on health system effectiveness in Niger. For example, poor quality maternal health services result from challenges related to the midwifery profession and from pressures from addressing the effects of illegal termination of pregnancy. Overall health system governance is undermined by weak management of human resources and health information systems as well as problems related to decentralisation of health care provision and dependence on external funding for health projects. LASDEL applies a rapid assessment and qualitative research approach to working with patients and health care professionals to identify the scale and characteristics of these problems. The project goal is to develop an evidence base to support tackling these neglected issues. Développer des recherches sur les « problèmes négligés » dans la gouvernance de la santé, et sur cette base contribuer à des réformes des systèmes de santé permettant une meilleure qualité des soins pour les populations vulnérables. "Develop research on "neglected problems" in the provision of health systems, and through this work, contribute to health system reforms, that provide better quality of care for vulnerable populations." As can be seen above, many of these issues relate to reproductive health and more generally to health issues of disadvantaged groups. Some issues are neglected for political or social reasons meaning that they are not recognised or acknowledged and in some cases are criminalised. Therefore there are profound issues of participant privacy, protection and even safety for this project. Data sharing therefore requires thoughtful anonymisation and selection. The project group is Francophone with limited English language knowledge and the researchers and the context is largely in French. In common with much of Francophone Africa there has been limited development of Open Access to research outputs or Open Research Data agendas at governmental or funder levels. Outside of Canada and France there has been limited development of infrastructure, systems or policy relating to data sharing in the global francophonie specifically.

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Case Study Thu, 19 Oct 2017 08:14:24 +0300
Case Study: Brazilian Virtual Herbarium https://riojournal.com/article/21701/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21701

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21701

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: The Brazilian Virtual Herbarium (BVH) is a project of the Brazillian Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental (CRIA) that has been running since 2009. The Virtual Herbarium provides an infrastructure that gathers digital records of plant specimens from primary source, mainly in Brazil, and makes them available through a central web portal. The source herbaria have complete control over what data is made through the portal and the data collected by BVH is made fully available. BVH in common with many data infrastructures, faces challenges in retaining funding. Most funding sources are project based and as has been noted elsewhere this creates problems for the sustaining of infrastructures. BVH therefore has an interest in demonstrating the use of the data resources it hosts. Through the OCSDNet project it has strengthened its capacity in this area to develop tools showing its wide usage. Overall the BVH hosts over eight million records (as of October 2017) and received 70 billion data requests in October 2017. Its users are mainly in Brazil but there is also substantial global usage. The primary uses are for research and education. There are a broad range of educational users, including universities but also schools. Through providing a central aggregation and access point BHV provides a data infrastructure that is greater – and more useful – than the sum of its parts.

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Case Study Thu, 19 Oct 2017 08:14:19 +0300
Case Study: HarassMap https://riojournal.com/article/21702/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21702

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21702

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: HarassMap is an NGO based in Cairo that collects and maps crowdsourced data on sexual harassment in Egypt. Alongside this crowd-sourced data gathering it also offers training, workshops and advocacy programs, working with relevant parties to reduce the acceptability of all forms of sexual harassment. The project has been running since 2010 based on the Ushaidi platform. Over this time it has collected a very large number of mapped events reported largely by anonymous members of the public. The data has value both in terms of its richness; mapping data, category of harassment and descriptions are all recorded; and also as a longitudinal dataset that can inform on the success of interventions as well as the development of new forms of harassment. The project has been approached in the past by a number of researchers interested in using the data it has collected. The interest from HarassMap in Pilot Project participation was originally to obtain technical support to address how best to share data. While some technical advice was offered the focus on practice and planning was still useful. Identifying what data resources the project had, and in what form, allowed them to develop an online portal through which data can be made available to researchers on request.

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Case Study Thu, 19 Oct 2017 08:14:01 +0300
Case Study: Tobacco Economics Control Project https://riojournal.com/article/21703/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21703

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21703

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: The Tobacco Control Economics Project is a project that seeks to gather evidence on tobacco use and economics in southern Africa. It is a project of the University of Cape Town with support from the DataFirst repository based at the University of Cape Town. Its aim is to gather data that already exists, sometimes in digital form, frequently in offline records or in some cases paper records, and bring them together as an open resource. The project faces challenges of data gathering as well as permissions. Frequently data is or should be “available” in some form but control over the data is relinquished only unreluctantly. In many cases the legal standing of data is unclear. Many of the challenges relating to the bringing together of the data involve ascertaining what the legal standing of a dataset is or gaining permissions for its re-use. DataFirst is a longstanding data sharing infrastructure with professional and experienced data management staff. Challenges of ensuring continued funding and maintenance are similar to those of data infrastructures globally. The infrastructure meets international standards and provides leadership to other services and platforms in this space.

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Case Study Thu, 19 Oct 2017 08:13:56 +0300
Case Study: Indigenous Knowledge and Data Sharing https://riojournal.com/article/21704/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21704

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21704

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: The IDRC-funded project 'Empowering Indigenous Peoples and Knowledge Systems Related to Climate Change and Intellectual Property Rights' is part of the Open and Collaborative Science in Development Network (OCSDNet). The project “examiners processes of open and collaborative science related to indigenous peoples’ knowledge, climate change and intellectual property rights”. Natural Justice, the lead organisation has a strong ethical stance on the agency and control over knowledge being vested with the contributing project participants, communities of the Nama and Griqua peoples of the Western Cape of South Africa. The project focuses on questions of how climate change is affecting these communities, how do they produce and maintain knowledge relating to climate change, how that knowledge is characterised and shared (or not) with wider publics, and how legal frameworks promote or hinder the agenda of these indigenous communities and their choices to communicate and collaborate with wider publics. Indigenous Knowledge is an area where ethical issues of informed consent, historical injustice, non-compatible epistemologies and political, legal, and economic issues all collide in ways that challenge western and Anglo-American assumptions about data sharing. The group seeks to strongly model and internally critique their own ethical stance in the process of their research, through for instance, using community contracts and questioning institutional informed consent systems.

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Case Study Thu, 19 Oct 2017 08:13:52 +0300
Compliance Culture or Culture Change? The role of funders in improving data management and sharing practice amongst researchers https://riojournal.com/article/21705/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e21705

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e21705

Authors: Cameron Neylon

Abstract: There is a wide and growing interest in promoting Research Data Management (RDM) and Research Data Sharing (RDS) from many stakeholders in the research enterprise. Funders are under pressure from activists, from government, and from the wider public agenda towards greater transparency and access to encourage, require, and deliver improved data practices from the researchers they fund. Funders are responding to this, and to their own interest in improved practice, by developing and implementing policies on RDM and RDS. In this review we examine the state of funder policies, the process of implementation and available guidance to identify the challenges and opportunities for funders in developing policy and delivering on the aspirations for improved community practice, greater transparency and engagement, and enhanced impact. The review is divided into three parts. The first two components are based on desk research: a survey of existing policy statements drawing in part on existing surveys and a brief review of available guidance on policy development for funders. The third part addresses the experience of policy implementation through interviews with funders, policy developers, and infrastructure providers. In our review we identify, in common with other surveys, that RDM and RDS policies are increasingly common. The most developed are found amongst funders in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and European Union. However many other funders and nations have aspirational statements or are developing policy. There is a broad pattern of policy development moving from aspiration, to recommendations, to requirements, and finally reporting and auditing of data management practice. There are strong similarities across policies: a requirement for data management planning, often in grant submissions, expectations that data supporting published articles will be made available, and in many cases requirements for data archiving and availability over extended periods beyond grants. However there are also important differences in implementation. There is essentially no information available on the uptake and success of different policies in terms of compliance rates, or degrees of data availability. Many policies require a Data Management Plan as part of grant submission. This requirement can be enforced but there is disagreement on the value of this. One view is that requirements such as DMPs are the only way to force researchers to pay attention to these issues. The other is that such requirements lead to a culture of compliance in which the minimal effort is made and planning is seen as a “tick-box” exercise that has no further value. In this view requirements such as DMPs may actually be damaging the effort to effect culture change towards improved community practice. One way to bring these two views together is to see DMPs as living documents that form the basis of collaboration between researchers, funders, and data managers throughout the life of a research project. This approach is reflected in guidance on policy development that emphasises the importance of clarifying responsibilities of various stakeholders and ensuring that researchers are both recognised for good practice and see tangible benefits. More broadly this points to the need for the program of improving RDM and RDS to be shared project with the incentives for funders and researchers aligned as far as is possible. In the interviews successful policy implementation was often seen to be dependent on funders providing the required support, both in the form of infrastructure and resourcing, and via the provision of internal expertise amongst program managers. Where resources are limited, leveraging other support, especially from institutional sources, was seen as important as was ensuring the scope of policy requirements were commensurate with the support available and readiness of research communities. Throughout the desk research and the interviews a consistent theme is the desire for cultural change, where data management and sharing practices are embedded within the norms of behaviour for research communities. There is general agreement that progress from aspirational policies to achieving compliance is challenging and that broad cultural change, with the exception of specific communities, is a long way off. It is interesting to note that discussion of cultural change is largely externalised. There is little engagement with the concept of culture as an issue to consider or work with and very little engagement with models of how cultural change could be enabled. The disagreement over the value of DMPs is one example of how a lack of active engagement with culture and how it changes is leading to problems. Key Findings Policies on RDM and RDS are being developed by a number of agencies, primarily in the Global North. These policies are broadly consistent in aspiration and outlines but differ significantly in details of implementation. Policies generally develop along a path starting with aspirational statements, followed by recommendations, then requirements, and finally auditing and compliance measures. Measurement of policy adoption and compliance in terms of the over goals of increased availability and re-use of data is not tracked and is likely unmeasurable currently. Data Management Plans are a central requirement for many policies, in part because they can be made compulsory and act as a general focus for raising awareness. There are significant differences in the views of stakeholders on the value of Data Management Planning in its current form. Some stakeholders regard them as successful in raising awareness albeit with some limitations. Some regard them as actively damaging progress towards real change in practice by making RDM appear as one administrative activity among the many required for grant submission Successful policy implementation is coupled with funder support for infrastructure and training. Seeing RDM as an area for collaboration between funders and researchers may be valuable Internal expertise and support within a funder is often a gap which becomes a problem with monitoring and implementation DMPs can be a helpful part of process but it will be important to make them useful documents throughout and beyond the project If the object of RDM and RDS policy is cultural change in research communities then direct engagement with understanding the various cultures of researcher and other stakeholder communities, alongside frameworks of how they change is an important area for future focus.

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Review Article Thu, 19 Oct 2017 08:13:47 +0300
Alchemy & algorithms: perspectives on the philosophy and history of open science https://riojournal.com/article/13593/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e13593

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e13593

Authors: Leo Lahti, Filipe da Silva, Markus Laine, Viivi Lähteenoja, Mikko Tolonen

Abstract: This paper gives the reader a chance to experience, or revisit, PHOS16: a conference on the History and Philosophy of Open Science. In the winter of 2016, we invited a varied international group to engage with these topics at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Our aim was a critical assessment of the defining features, underlying narratives, and overall objectives of the contemporary open science movement. The event brought together contemporary open science scholars, publishers, and advocates to discuss the philosophical foundations and historical roots of openness in academic research. The eight sessions combined historical views with more contemporary perspectives on topics such as transparency, reproducibility, collaboration, publishing, peer review, research ethics, as well as societal impact and engagement. We gathered together expert panelists and 15 invited speakers who have published extensively on these topics, which allowed us to engage in a thorough and multifaceted discussion. Together with our involved audience we charted the role and foundations of openness of research in our time, considered the accumulation and dissemination of scientific knowledge, and debated the various technical, legal, and ethical challenges of the past and present. In this article, we provide an overview of the topics covered at the conference as well as individual video interviews with each speaker. In addition to this, all the talks were recorded and they are offered here as an openly licensed community resource in both video and audio form.

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Workshop Report Fri, 12 May 2017 14:03:51 +0300
Mapping Open Access Societal Impact https://riojournal.com/article/11743/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e11743

DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e11743

Authors: ElHassan ElSabry

Abstract: A proposal to create a comprehensive online resource documenting the usage of Open Access research outside academia including an evidence base, a world map showing instances of impact and a forum for discussing methods to measure the societal impact of Open Access.

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Small Grant Proposal Fri, 13 Jan 2017 11:42:06 +0200
Historical analysis of strategies for assimilation and identity maintenance in dispersed groups of overseas Hungarians and their relevance regarding national policy planning https://riojournal.com/article/8861/ Research Ideas and Outcomes 2: e8861

DOI: 10.3897/rio.2.e8861

Authors: János Tóth

Abstract: Small grant proposal for the period between August 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015 of the Kelemen Mikes Program; for collecting the legacy of the Hungarian diaspora from documents of libraries and archives, and for the historical study of these communities.

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Small Grant Proposal Wed, 20 Apr 2016 16:02:41 +0300