Transforming Research Communication: Knowledge Management and Data Publishing

Due to multiple pressures – including funding resources, technical developments and policy priorities – the scholarly communication ecosystem is changing. This is inevitably causing pressures to bear not only on researchers themselves but also their fellow stakeholders: funders, publishers, data centers and libraries. Innovations in instrumentation, collection methods, software and modelling are contributing to output but we are not necessarily developing equal proficiency in managing said outputs. Accordingly, research data and datasets – their collection, curation, storage, citation and re-use – have been identified as crucial to the progression of useful knowledge, so they need to be satisfactorily integrated into the research canon. This presentation outlines recent developments in research data publishing thought and practice with particular emphasis on the Opportunities for Data Exchange (ODE) project and on potential opportunities for libraries. It uses the new title Geoscience Data Journal as a particularly relevant case study for this audience – in terms of subject matter, partnerships – and the ongoing related research project PREPARDE (Peer REview for Publication & Accreditation of Research Data in the Earth sciences). The latter aims to develop the required workflows, guidelines, policies and educative support to encourage and optimize best practice in all aspects of the research data life-cycle. These aspects include deposition in an accredited repository, peer review, publication and the encouragement to re-use. Feedback from the audience on these aims would be most welcome as engagement and involvement with stakeholders are key PREPARDE objectives.