ANN ARBOR—The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research are joining forces to encourage open access to research data and closer links between publications and the data on which they are based.

A grant from the foundation will allow U-M’s ICPSR to work with editors of peer-reviewed social science journals, leaders of data repositories and research funding agencies to foster new standards in research transparency, data citation and sustainable funding models for open access to data.

“Professional associations, journals, data repositories and funding agencies must work together to make the entire scientific venture more transparent and to encourage broader access to research data,” said ICPSR Director George Alter. “The first step is to give scientists who produce important research data the recognition they deserve.”

A primary aim of the project is to promote the effective, consistent and standardized citation of research data. In the past, journals have been inconsistent in citing data, often providing incomplete information about how and by whom data were created. Clear standards of citation will ensure that research data are recognized as significant contributions, and that data producers are given proper credit.

Such standards will also enhance the transparency of scientific research. To reproduce the findings reported in journal articles, data need to be available along with all of the information necessary for replication. Some disciplines have already implemented such transparency requirements, but the project will encourage journals to adopt common guidelines and procedures.

In light of more stringent demands for data sharing among public and private research funding agencies, the Sloan/ICPSR project will also encourage collaboration across scientific domains on sustainable funding models for data repositories. For example, the National Science Foundation now requires a data management plan for all funded research projects, including specifics on how data will be stored and shared. Bringing leaders of data archives and representatives from research funding agencies together to discuss ways to support this and similar mandates will benefit the wider research community.

Daniel Goroff, program director at the Sloan Foundation, said the project illustrates how Sloan’s dedication to the advancement of scientific, technological and economic research also entails support for infrastructure that can enhance the scholarly communication and impact of such research.

“Effective data citation and data sharing practices are good for science and good for scientists,” he said. “Everyone wants research results that are reliable, reusable and reproducible. ICPSR’s 50 years of experience curating data like this for the social sciences can serve as an inspiration for all disciplines.”

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic, not-for-profit grantmaking institution based in New York City. Established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors, the foundation makes grants in support of original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and economic performance. For more information, visit www.sloan.org.

ICPSR is the world’s largest repository of digital social science research data, containing datasets from more than 8,300 data collections in disciplines including sociology, political science, economics, health care, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, criminal justice and aging, among others. Founded in 1962, the consortium has more than 700 members worldwide. For more information, visit www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/landing.jsp.

Established in 1949, the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research is the world’s largest academic social science survey and research organization, and a world leader in developing and applying social science methodology, and in educating researchers and students from around the world. ISR conducts some of the most widely cited studies in the nation, including the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, the American National Election Studies, the Monitoring the Future Study, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the Health and Retirement Study, the Columbia County Longitudinal Study and the National Survey of Black Americans. ISR researchers also collaborate with social scientists in more than 60 nations on the World Values Surveys and other projects, and the institute has established formal ties with universities in Poland, China and South Africa. For more information, visit www.isr.umich.edu.