Data

Our Aim

Access to information enables researchers to be more productive and shared facilities’ staff to better support them. The Data Working Group aims to connect researchers, facilities’ staff, equipment, and knowledge through data infrastructure. Our current goal is to develop a set of recommendations for infrastructure to support data management needs of researchers who use and generate data in our shared facilities

What is the role of shared facilities in data management?

This is the question posed to the c-ShaRP Data Working Group whose members range from shared facilities managers to IT professionals and policy makers at Stanford. In short, we believe that shared facilities have a critical role in deploying data management best practices across the University.

What is all the fuss about?

Since 2013, researchers receiving government funding have complied with the data management requirements outlined by the US Government Office of Science & Technology Policy. In August of 2022, the OSTP announced new requirements to be implemented by the end of 2025 (also known as the “Nelson Memo”). While in principle, there is general support for its aims, there is also a great deal of uncertainty about how to administer the policy and its financial impacts. This uncertainty has shaken up librarians, publishers of journals, and IT professionals although many researchers are still unaware. Some interesting links:

• OSTP “Nelson” Memo. The source of all this activity is actually directed to the funding agencies themselves, admonishing them to develop policies to meet these new requirements.
• Here are the policy responses from funding agency to the OSTP Nelson Memo requirements.
• Eric Shares. “Impact of the 2022 OSTP memo: A bibliometric analysis of US federally funded publications, 2017–2021” Quantitative Science Studies (2023) 4 (1): 1–21.  This has a nice summary of the broader impacts - and is a great example of the kind of data transparency espoused by the Nelson Memo.
• IPLC Letter to OSTP. Stanford is one of 13 university library signatories to this letter urging the OSTP to fund the infrastructure required for implementation of this new policy.
• Deep dive into this topic, from the NIH perspective.

What are the new requirements?

The Science.gov website summary lists the new key requirements, along with the implementation plans from each funding agency. Basically, all peer-reviewed or government funded publications and conferences must make scientific data available, including “the recorded factual material commonly accepted in the scientific community as of sufficient quality to validate and replicate research findings.” [Footnote #6 from the Nelson memo.] Needless to say, this would include not only the data generated by researchers who use shared facilities, but presumably the information providing provenance for the data (such as instrument specificationcalibration/reference standards…)

What are the implications for shared facilities?

1. Who owns responsibility for data management? Until now, the project PI has been held responsible. However, these requirements cast the institutions as being ultimately responsible by providing data management infrastructure. Shared facilities will play a key role in multiprong approach aimed at supporting our researchers.
2. Why shared facilities?
   • Our reach. Collectively, our shared facilities serve thousands of researchers across the university, spanning departments and schools.
   • Our role in the data life cycle.  We support data generation by the data generators, at the earliest stages of the data life cycle (for example, NIST's web app for data life cycle planning). This is the ideal entry point for data collection.

What resources are available for shared facilities?

Shared facilities vastly vary in the amount and types of data generated, the kinds of research supported, and the level of data collected and policies governing collection and storage. Shared facilities today rely on USB keys, Google Cloud, or manage their own servers. Many, if not most, have no formal data policy at all.

However, there are LOTS of University resources for collecting, managing, storing, and accessing data. The best solution will depend on the specific needs of your facility and users. The challenge for shared facilities is discovering and navigating the many resources to build a data management plan – and then making sure to keep up with the every-changing data landscape. What you, as shared facility staff, can do: please fill our survey and participate in our discussions. We want to know:

• What is your awareness of the changes in data management policies?
• Do you have data management workflows in your facility?
•  What kind of support would you like to have to implement or maintain a data management workflow?
• The reach of your facility: how many users did you support in 2023?

We hope to build a business case for data management support for shared facilities. Your inputs beyond this survey would also be appreciated --- please feel free to reach out to us at csharp_data-wg@stanford.edu