Letter to the editor

Marc Garellek,James Kirby,Alexis Michaud,Adrian Simpson,Kristine M Yu,Matthew Gordon,Daniel Recasens,Timo B Roettger,Christine Mooshammer,Wai-Sum Lee,Oliver Niebuhr

doi:10.20396/joss.v9i00.14955

Abstract

It is not yet standard practice in phonetics to provide access to audio files along with submissions to journals. This is paradoxical in view of the importance of data for phonetic research: from audio signals to the whole range of data acquired in phonetic experiments. The phonetic sciences stand to gain greatly from data availability: what is at stake is no less than reproducibility and cumulative progress. We will argue that a collective turn to Open Science holds great promise for phonetics. First, simple reflections on why access to primary data matters are recapitulated and proposed as a basis for consensus. Next, possible drawbacks of data availability are addressed. Finally, we argue that data curation and archiving are to be recognized as part of the same activity that results in the publication of research papers, rather than attempting to build a parallel system to incentivize data archiving by itself.

Highlights

The brimming agendas of researchers in the phonetic sciences have in recent years received the unsolicited addition of increasingly complex and time-consuming tasks related to the protection of human subjects‘ personal data
The importance of primary data is self-evident, but given the current situation of disconnect between publications and data, it many be useful to spell out some fundamental points
It does not have to be seen as an unpleasant additional requirement on top of other obligations. It can be viewed as an opportunity to convince reviewers and readers better, and to facilitate further progress by opening the data to other uses. Is how this argument was stated at the 2017 Linguistic Society of America Institute Workshop on Data Management Plans: The rising tide of data management and sharing requirements from funding agencies, publishers, and institutions has created a new set of pressures for researchers who are already stretched for time and funds

Summary

Introduction

The brimming agendas of researchers in the phonetic sciences have in recent years received the unsolicited addition of increasingly complex and time-consuming tasks related to the protection of human subjects‘ personal data. Due in part to these legal concerns and in part to inertia (continuing editorial habits that predate the time when data sharing was a technical possibility), it is not yet standard practice in phonetics to provide access to audio files along with submissions to journals This is paradoxical in view of the importance of primary data in our field (emphasized e.g. by 1). The emphasis laid on legal (and moral) obligations to restrain access to data threatens to override the strong reasons for data sharing Given this context, it appears useful to state the obvious: that the phonetic sciences stand to gain greatly from data availability and citability [2].

Why Access to Primary Data Matters

Obstacles to Curation and Archiving of Primary Data

Recommendations

Concluding Note