Research data remains unFAIR

Many researchers seem to have a worrying lack of understanding of best practice data principles, even as they make more of their own data openly available.

The State of Open Data report from Figshare, an online repository for academic research, found that 64 per cent of respondents now make their data openly available, a 7 per cent rise since 2016. But nearly 60 per cent of more than 1,300 active researchers who responded to the survey had never heard of the FAIR principles that data should be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.

“While some of the definitions of these principles are still being worked out, it was a shock to see that nearly 60 per cent of respondents ‘had never heard of the FAIR principles before now’,” said Mark Hahnel, chief executive of Figshare.