Why don't we share data and code? Perceived barriers and benefits to public archiving practices

Area of Science:

• Biological Sciences
• Open Science Practices

Background:

• Growing recognition of open, reproducible, and transparent research benefits.
• Persistent failure of many researchers to publicly share data and code.

Purpose of the Study:

• Define, categorize, and discuss barriers to data and code sharing.
• Explore strategies to overcome or reframe these barriers.
• Promote alignment with open science goals within the scientific community.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and conceptual analysis of data and code sharing barriers.
• Categorization of identified barriers (e.g., knowledge, reuse concerns, incentives).
• Discussion of potential solutions and reframing strategies.

Main Results:

• Identified key barriers including lack of knowledge, reuse concerns, and misaligned career incentives.
• Highlighted the gap between the recognized value of open science and actual data/code sharing practices.
• Proposed that understanding barriers is key to mitigation.

Conclusions:

• Overcoming barriers to data and code sharing is essential for achieving open science.
• Mitigating these challenges requires a community-wide effort.
• Aligning individual actions and community goals can foster greater transparency and reproducibility.