Leslie & Irene Dubé Health Sciences Library (Read), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sask.; Taylor Family Digital Library (Ganshorn), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.; University Library (Rutley), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sask.; University Library (Scott), University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alta.
CMAJ Open. 2021 Nov 9;9(4):E980-E987. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20200303. Print 2021 Oct-Dec.
As Canada increases requirements for research data management and sharing, there is value in identifying how research data are shared and what has been done to make them findable and reusable. This study aimed to understand Canada's data-sharing landscape by reviewing how data funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are shared and comparing researchers' data-sharing practices to best practices for research data management and sharing.
We performed a descriptive analysis of CIHR-funded publications from PubMed and PubMed Central published between 1946 and Dec. 31, 2019, that indicated that the research data underlying the results of the publication were shared. We analyzed each publication to identify how and where data were shared, who shared data and what documentation was included to support data reuse.
Of 4144 CIHR-funded publications identified, 1876 (45.2%) included accessible data, 935 (22.6%) stated that data were available via request or application, and 300 (7.2%) stated that data sharing was not applicable or possible; we found no evidence of data sharing in 1558 publications (37.6%). Frequent data-sharing methods included via a repository (1549 [37.4%]), within supplementary files (1048 [25.3%]) and via request or application (935 [22.6%]). Overall, 554 publications (13.4%) included documentation that would facilitate data reuse.
Publications funded by the CIHR largely lack the metadata, access instructions and documentation to facilitate data discovery and reuse. Without measures to address these concerns and enhanced support for researchers seeking to implement best practices for research data management and sharing, much CIHR-funded research data will remain hidden, inaccessible and unusable.
随着加拿大提高对研究数据管理和共享的要求，了解研究数据的共享方式以及为提高数据的可发现性和可重用性所做的工作具有重要意义。本研究旨在通过审查加拿大卫生研究院（CIHR）资助的研究数据的共享方式，并将研究人员的数据共享实践与研究数据管理和共享的最佳实践进行比较，来了解加拿大的数据共享情况。
我们对 1946 年至 2019 年 12 月 31 日期间在 PubMed 和 PubMed Central 上发表的、表明研究结果所依据的研究数据已共享的 CIHR 资助出版物进行了描述性分析。我们分析了每篇出版物，以确定数据是如何以及在何处共享的，谁共享了数据以及包含了哪些支持数据再利用的文档。
在确定的 4144 篇 CIHR 资助的出版物中，有 1876 篇（45.2%）包含可访问的数据，935 篇（22.6%）说明数据可通过请求或申请获得，300 篇（7.2%）说明数据共享不适用或不可能；在 1558 篇出版物（37.6%）中未发现数据共享的证据。常见的数据共享方法包括通过存储库（1549 篇 [37.4%]）、补充文件（1048 篇 [25.3%]）和请求或申请（935 篇 [22.6%]）。总体而言，有 554 篇出版物（13.4%）包含有助于数据再利用的文档。
CIHR 资助的出版物在很大程度上缺乏元数据、访问说明和文档，这给数据发现和再利用带来了困难。如果不采取措施解决这些问题，并为寻求实施研究数据管理和共享最佳实践的研究人员提供更多支持，那么许多由 CIHR 资助的研究数据将仍然隐藏、无法访问和无法使用。
