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Title: Challenges of open data in aquatic sciences: issues faced by data users and data providers

Journal Article · · Frontiers in Environmental Science
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9]; ORCiD logo [10];  [11];  [12]
  1. Uppsala Univ. (Sweden)
  2. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
  3. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
  4. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin, LA (United States)
  5. Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (Germany); Univ. of Potsdam (Germany)
  6. Aarhus Univ. (Denmark)
  7. Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels (Belgium)
  8. Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (Germany)
  9. Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, Magdeburg (Germany)
  10. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  11. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg (Austria); Utrecht University (Netherlands)
  12. 7 Lakes Alliance, Belgrade Lakes, ME (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Free use and redistribution of data (i.e., Open Data) increases the reproducibility, transparency, and pace of aquatic sciences research. However, barriers to both data users and data providers may limit the adoption of Open Data practices. Here, we describe common Open Data challenges faced by data users and data providers within the aquatic sciences community (i.e., oceanography, limnology, hydrology, and others). These challenges were synthesized from literature, authors’ experiences, and a broad survey of 174 data users and data providers across academia, government agencies, industry, and other sectors. Through this work, we identified seven main challenges: 1) metadata shortcomings, 2) variable data quality and reusability, 3) open data inaccessibility, 4) lack of standardization, 5) authorship and acknowledgement issues 6) lack of funding, and 7) unequal barriers around the globe. Our key recommendation is to improve resources to advance Open Data practices. This includes dedicated funds for capacity building, hiring and maintaining of skilled personnel, and robust digital infrastructures for preparation, storage, and long-term maintenance of Open Data. Further, to incentivize data sharing we reinforce the need for standardized best practices to handle data acknowledgement and citations for both data users and data providers. We also highlight and discuss regional disparities in resources and research practices within a global perspective.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
2483414
Journal Information:
Frontiers in Environmental Science, Journal Name: Frontiers in Environmental Science Vol. 12; ISSN 2296-665X
Publisher:
Frontiers Research FoundationCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
aquatic sciences
data collection
data management
data sharing
fair principles
open data
open science