A survey of researchers’ methods sharing practices and priorities
Missing or inaccessible information about the methods used in scientific research slows the pace of discovery and hampers reproducibility. Yet little is known about how, why, and under what conditions researchers share detailed methods information, or about how such practices vary across social cate...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/16731.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797364519287128064 |
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| author | Marcel LaFlamme James Harney Iain Hrynaszkiewicz |
| author_facet | Marcel LaFlamme James Harney Iain Hrynaszkiewicz |
| author_sort | Marcel LaFlamme |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Missing or inaccessible information about the methods used in scientific research slows the pace of discovery and hampers reproducibility. Yet little is known about how, why, and under what conditions researchers share detailed methods information, or about how such practices vary across social categories like career stage, field, and region. In this exploratory study, we surveyed 997 active researchers about their attitudes and behaviors with respect to methods sharing. The most common approach reported by respondents was private sharing upon request, but a substantial minority (33%) had publicly shared detailed methods information independently of their research findings. The most widely used channels for public sharing were connected to peer-reviewed publications, while the most significant barriers to public sharing were found to be lack of time and lack of awareness about how or where to share. Insofar as respondents were moderately satisfied with their ability to accomplish various goals associated with methods sharing, we conclude that efforts to increase public sharing may wish to focus on enhancing and building awareness of existing solutions—even as future research should seek to understand the needs of methods users and the extent to which they align with prevailing practices of sharing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:37:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a64ba06eea634afbae6d7d862b38a20a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:37:26Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-a64ba06eea634afbae6d7d862b38a20a2024-01-05T15:05:39ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592024-01-0112e1673110.7717/peerj.16731A survey of researchers’ methods sharing practices and prioritiesMarcel LaFlamme0James Harney1Iain Hrynaszkiewicz2Public Library of Science, San Francisco, CA, United StatesPublic Library of Science, San Francisco, CA, United StatesPublic Library of Science, Cambridge, United KingdomMissing or inaccessible information about the methods used in scientific research slows the pace of discovery and hampers reproducibility. Yet little is known about how, why, and under what conditions researchers share detailed methods information, or about how such practices vary across social categories like career stage, field, and region. In this exploratory study, we surveyed 997 active researchers about their attitudes and behaviors with respect to methods sharing. The most common approach reported by respondents was private sharing upon request, but a substantial minority (33%) had publicly shared detailed methods information independently of their research findings. The most widely used channels for public sharing were connected to peer-reviewed publications, while the most significant barriers to public sharing were found to be lack of time and lack of awareness about how or where to share. Insofar as respondents were moderately satisfied with their ability to accomplish various goals associated with methods sharing, we conclude that efforts to increase public sharing may wish to focus on enhancing and building awareness of existing solutions—even as future research should seek to understand the needs of methods users and the extent to which they align with prevailing practices of sharing.https://peerj.com/articles/16731.pdfMethods sharingProtocol sharingResearch methodsOpen science |
| spellingShingle | Marcel LaFlamme James Harney Iain Hrynaszkiewicz A survey of researchers’ methods sharing practices and priorities PeerJ Methods sharing Protocol sharing Research methods Open science |
| title | A survey of researchers’ methods sharing practices and priorities |
| title_full | A survey of researchers’ methods sharing practices and priorities |
| title_fullStr | A survey of researchers’ methods sharing practices and priorities |
| title_full_unstemmed | A survey of researchers’ methods sharing practices and priorities |
| title_short | A survey of researchers’ methods sharing practices and priorities |
| title_sort | survey of researchers methods sharing practices and priorities |
| topic | Methods sharing Protocol sharing Research methods Open science |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/16731.pdf |
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