Development of the Research Data Archive at OIST

Abstract

Once a work is published academic authors may not spend much time thinking about its data any longer. If an author decides to revisit a similar subject, or share old data with a colleague, having properly formatted original data can make that easier. Unfortunately, files and documentation may get lost or misplaced as students and postdocs change jobs, or file types become obsolete and difficult to access. Research data is valuable to authors, universities, and the scientific community. Many funding institutions around the world are now requiring data management plans to be submitted along with a research proposal [1]. However, it can be difficult for funders to evaluate if data plans are properly exercised. The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) seeks to be among the first institutions that have a centralized copy of all its published research data. As of this fiscal year, OIST now requires the curated archival of published research data. This ensures that not only the final published document is available, but also the raw data and information necessary to reach the conclusions presented in the publication. OIST strives to make sure that this data stays organized and easily accessible in the years to come. However, archiving requires a high level of cooperation from authors, and it cannot be a one-sided effort by the university administration. This conference proceeding covers our motivations, experiences, challenges, and summarizes the preliminary results from our first 6 months of archiving.