Wellcome Open Research (Nov 2020)

Fostering global data sharing: highlighting the recommendations of the Research Data Alliance COVID-19 working group [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

  • Claire C. Austin,
  • Alexander Bernier,
  • Louise Bezuidenhout,
  • Juan Bicarregui,
  • Timea Biro,
  • Anne Cambon-Thomsen,
  • Stephanie Russo Carroll,
  • Zoe Cournia,
  • Piotr Wojciech Dabrowski,
  • Gayo Diallo,
  • Thomas Duflot,
  • Leyla Garcia,
  • Sandra Gesing,
  • Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran,
  • Anupama Gururaj,
  • Natalie Harrower,
  • Dawei Lin,
  • Claudia Medeiros,
  • Eva Méndez,
  • Natalie Meyers,
  • Daniel Mietchen,
  • Rajini Nagrani,
  • Gustav Nilsonne,
  • Simon Parker,
  • Brian Pickering,
  • Amy Pienta,
  • Panayiota Polydoratou,
  • Fotis Psomopoulos,
  • Stephanie Rennes,
  • Robyn Rowe,
  • Susanna-Assunta Sansone,
  • Hugh Shanahan,
  • Lina Sitz,
  • Joanne Stocks,
  • Marcos Roberto Tovani-Palone,
  • Mary Uhlmansiek,
  • Research Data Alliance

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16378.1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5

Abstract

Read online

The systemic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic require cross-disciplinary collaboration in a global and timely fashion. Such collaboration needs open research practices and the sharing of research outputs, such as data and code, thereby facilitating research and research reproducibility and timely collaboration beyond borders. The Research Data Alliance COVID-19 Working Group recently published a set of recommendations and guidelines on data sharing and related best practices for COVID-19 research. These guidelines include recommendations for researchers, policymakers, funders, publishers and infrastructure providers from the perspective of different domains (Clinical Medicine, Omics, Epidemiology, Social Sciences, Community Participation, Indigenous Peoples, Research Software, Legal and Ethical Considerations). Several overarching themes have emerged from this document such as the need to balance the creation of data adherent to FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable), with the need for quick data release; the use of trustworthy research data repositories; the use of well-annotated data with meaningful metadata; and practices of documenting methods and software. The resulting document marks an unprecedented cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, and cross-jurisdictional effort authored by over 160 experts from around the globe. This letter summarises key points of the Recommendations and Guidelines, highlights the relevant findings, shines a spotlight on the process, and suggests how these developments can be leveraged by the wider scientific community.