Data Sharing Practices in Agricultural Research: Findings from a Systematized Review

Abstract

Objective: Agricultural researchers who follow data sharing best practices advance the state of research in a variety of critical areas including plant breeding, cropping systems, and climate change adaptation. Data sharing makes research more reliable and reproducible, therefore, data sharing practices of researchers are integral to advancing science. To assess how agricultural researchers adhere to these practices, we conducted a systematized review of their published output and examined different ways data were shared. Methods: Our study focused on corn and soybean production research published from 2017 to 2022 by authors at our institutions. We searched five databases, retrieved 8,271 articles, and created a randomized sample of 1,250 papers that contained an equal number of examples from each year. Following a rigorous set of criteria, we screened each article for inclusion and recorded the characteristics of the data, funder information, and whether the researchers shared data. Results: Of the articles that met the inclusion criteria, less than 15% shared the full dataset associated with the research. The rate of articles sharing data did not change appreciably over time and was low regardless of funding source. Methods for sharing data varied widely, both in data availability statements and in storage options. Conclusions: These results indicate a need for improved agricultural data sharing and suggest an important role for librarians and data professionals in promoting best data practices to meet increasingly strict funder requirements.

Keywords

• data sharing practices
• research synthesis
• agriculture and life sciences