Data-sharing practices in publications funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research: implications for health...

Funding bodies such as Canada's Tri-Agency have implemented requirements for grant recipients to encourage improved research data management (RDM) practices and data sharing. Consequently, RDM and data sharing have become a higher priority for researchers and stakeholders supporting the research process, including librarians. Health sciences research can present special challenges to those wishing to share and use research data, as access to sensitive data must be restricted. This study examines the data sharing practices of researchers funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in recent years.

We ran a search of PubMed Central to identify papers funded by CIHR that were published between 2020 and 2023 and had associated data. From the resulting records, we drew a sample of 368 articles. Using Qualtrics for each article, we recorded if and how data was shared and what types of documentation were provided alongside the data. Results were exported to and analyzed using Microsoft Excel.

We found that 69% of papers included a data availability statement. 34% of articles made at least some data readily accessible, while 31% indicated that some data was available via request or application. Only 9% of articles supplied the kinds of documentation that would support reuse of the data.

Those seeking to reuse Canadian health sciences research data continue to face significant hurdles. We offer ideas for health sciences librarians looking to support researchers in their efforts to make data available and usable while respecting restrictions required due to ethical considerations.