DATA PAPER

Data Paper (Data Articles)

In a typical research article, data is collected and analyzed to answer scientific questions. While some journals require raw data to be available for sharing, others do not, and the article only publishes the analyzed results in a condensed manner. Once the article is published, the collection of data is likely stored and forgotten. Unlike these traditional research articles, data paper articles are a relatively new type of publication that reports only specific data sets collected up to the method of the work. These documents make it easier to share and reuse what has been researched and give credit to the researchers who collected them. There are also journals that almost exclusively publish these data articles.

This new publication type provides complete descriptions of datasets. Any further analysis of them should be removed from such documents. Authors can generate regular research article, to report the findings of their data analysis. For example, in the Ecology data paper guidelines, the journal states that “detailed analysis of the datasets could, however, form the core of a companion paper.” In a data paper, descriptions must be sufficiently detailed so that readers can understand the data and collection methods and can reuse them. Because these articles are peer-reviewed, only those of adequate quality (e.g., those with solid experiment design; data collected with valid methods; and complete data sets) may be published.

All data papers are open access and must not have restrictions for other researchers to access them, that is, prevent reuse. Publication gives the data a permanent home online that invites any interested researcher to use it for their own analysis. Although some journals may host their own data papers, most indicate that they are deposited in relevant repositories. For example, Scientific Data lists several specific repositories by subject and data type; others are generalists.

Examples of important sources for data papers are stricto sensu dissertations/theses from the major health area which, once defended, are archived with the datasets contained in them. We all know that theses are not accepted as such for publication in important journals; Publishers restrict text to between 3000 and 5000 words and allow few tables. Normally the total data, which were carefully placed in spreadsheets or tables and collected using the established method, are published in the theses as appendices or addenda, and with this format they are forgotten. Data in individual tables are called datasets and databases when they form a set of datasets. Being only data – without conclusions or inductive results – they can be scientifically manipulated by other authors, of course citing the source they used in addition. The publication with this formatting (that is, the publication ending in the method, without results or conclusions), is called a data paper. With it comes the opportunity for master's/doctoral students to have their publications duplicated, all with DOIs, and effectively cooperating with Open Science, so called when data can be shared and reused.