Science Europe | Practical Guide to Sustainable Research Data
Maturity Matrices for Research Funding Organisations, Research Performing Organisations, and Research Data Infrastructures
Foreword by Members of the Science Europe Governing Board
Professor Roland Fischer,
Vice-President of German Research Foundation (DFG), and
Professor Melanie Welham,
Executive Chair, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Open Science builds on the fundamental features of research and innovation: transparency, openness, verification and reproducibility. It is one of the main elements in Science Europe’s strategy for 2021–2026, and together with its peers from the Science Europe membership, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) support the aim to deeply embed it within the practice of research. To achieve such change, appropriate policies and practices must be in place throughout the research and innovation system.
One of the key elements of Open Science is the availability of research data. Research data are an essential foundation for scientific work; their diversity reflects the wide range of scientific disciplines, and of research interests and methods. Sharing research data for re-use to support scientific progress is increasingly becoming the norm and a growing number of organisations already expect and foster an open behaviour regarding such data.
This Science Europe Practical Guide aims to provide guidance to both Science Europe Member Organisations and other interested research stakeholders on how to ensure the long-term preservation and accessibility of research data, offering a framework for researchers to share their outputs in a sustainable way. This directly contributes to the traceability and quality of scientific work and enables researchers to carry on work begun by others.
The matrices presented in this guide can support organisations to develop and enhance their own policies and practices towards the sustainability and openness of research data, and encourage dialogue and collaboration with like-minded organisations. This directly supports the advancement of Open Science as a whole and helps it become an increasing part of a shared research culture.
Science Europe’s Member Organisations and their peers in the research and innovation landscape play an essential role in the development and implementation of Open Science policies, both individually and collectively. We hope that this guide will be a useful tool to advance in this ambitious and important endeavour.
Professor Roland Fischer, Professor Melanie Welham
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