APPENDIX 10
Memorandum from Dr Jules J Berman
It is of great importance that researchers have
access to primary publications and to the primary data that supports
the assertions contained in the publications. Unfortunately, most
scientific literature is barely accessible to researchers. Fifty
years ago, it may have been possible for a library to stock all
the journals related to a discipline. This is impossible today.
There are too many journals, and much of today's research crosses
scientific disciplines. In medical research, a typical study may
involve clinicians, programmers, statisticians, pathologists,
bioinformaticians, etc. The research product is often a large
database. If the database is not made available as a supplemental
file, the reader has no possible way of reviewing the data. Print
journals can only accommodate a few summary tables and are inadequate
vehicles for conveying primary datasets. Without data review,
there's very little reason to accept the validity of the assertions
included in the manuscript.
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports
making research data available to the general public. The NIH
policy on data sharing took effect 1 October, 2003. The policy
specifies that "all investigator-initiated applications with
direct costs greater than $500,000 in any single year will be
expected to address data sharing in their application." [5]
The reasons for this policy appeared in the NIH draft statement
on data sharing. [6]
"Sharing data reinforces open scientific inquiry, encourages
diversity of analysis and opinion, promotes new research, makes
possible the testing of new or alternative hypotheses and methods
of analysis, supports studies on data collection methods and measurement,
facilitates the education of new researchers, enables the exploration
of topics not envisioned by the initial investigators, and permits
the creation of new data sets when data from multiple sources
are combined. By avoiding the duplication of expensive data collection
activities, the NIH is able to support more investigators than
it could if similar data had to be collected de novo by each applicant."
[7]
The NIH policy is similar to journal publication guidelines recently
released by the National Academy of Sciences and endorsed by many
journal editors. [8]
On 26 June, 2003, the "Public Access to
Science Act" was introduced to the US House of Representatives
by Congressman Sabo. The bill comments that the US federal government
spends $45 billion dollars each year to support scientific and
medical research, and it seeks to ensure that the resulting publications
are made freely available to the public. The intent of the bill
is to have federally-supported publications entered into the public
domain. The text of the bill is available at: [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.R.2613:]
It is my personal perception that scientific
progress is impeded by the traditional journal publication system.
What is needed is open access to research papers and research
data. It seems fair that research supported by government funding
should be made freely available to the public. Open access publications,
such as BiomedCentral, provide a viable solution. The BiomedCentral
publications are all online and are available to the public on
the same day that they are accepted [through a peer review process].
BiomedCentral publishes the text manuscript, as well as figures,
tables, and primary datasets. Publications are indexed by the
National Library of Medicine and can be accessed by the public
through a PubMed search. This is a terrific system and will be
a great benefit to humanity.
January 2004
5 Final NIH Statement on Sharing Research Data. 2003.
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-03-032.html Back
6
NIH Draft Statement on Sharing Research Data. 2002. http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-035.html Back
7
as above Back
8
National Academy of Sciences Report. Sharing Publication-Related
Data and Materials: Responsibilities of Authorship in the Life
Sciences. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2003 Back
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