A Campus-wide Survey of Consciousness on Research Datasets

Abstract

To obtain the basic information necessary for planning a research data management (RDM) system in Kyoto University, Japan, we conducted a campus-wide survey of research datasets twice with different topics. Although only a part of campus members responded, some clear tendencies were observed. That is, (1) considerable portion of researchers are not very positive to make their data open because of a confidentiality obligation or for holding their predominance in their research fields, (2) strength of consciousness on open data is considerably different depending on their discipline, (3) the above difference may come not only from inherency of each discipline but also from the requirement of open data by the journals. (4) There exist more than fifty open data repositories, and more than half of them are managed by the institutions established for each specific field of research or by the organization outside of the campus. From the survey, it is suggested that the researchers are still conservative to make their data open, and a current practical necessity to RDM system in the campus seems to be a system for keeping and making the data open within each research group. By preparing a convenient RDM system as well as the requirement of open data by the journals in wider discipline may change the consciousness of the researchers on open data.