The relation between disciplinary concepts of originality and practical orientations for data sharing

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Eva Barlösius
• Subject Area: Sociological Theory
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 347305329

The project departs from the assumption that a link between the concepts of scientific originality and the practical orientations for data sharing exists, which is constituted by the aspiration for scientific reputation. Studies on scientific originality have shown that the awarding of scientific reputation depends on, that the generated scientific knowledge is recognized as original. This link has neither been analyzed nor proven yet, however, this assumption is supported by some indicators: for instance researchers name as main reason why they do not share their data, that this practice would not be rewarded with scientific reputation. Moreover researchers state that they would not pass the data until this resource cannot be longer used for good publications, that means for increasing their scientific reputation. On the other hand data is shared if this gift increases the prospects for generating original scientific knowledge. The concepts of originality differ according to discipline-specific characteristics, as own empirical studies show. These could be an important reason for the disciplinary differences regarding data sharing.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants