Data: Sharing Is Caring

Abstract

Data sharing promotes scientific progress by permitting replication of prior scientific analyses and by increasing the return on the human and financial investments made in data collection. The costs of data sharing can be reduced through the implementation of best practices in data management across the research life cycle; this article provides specific guidance on these practices. The benefits of data sharing will be reaped when researchers who share their data are rewarded with citations and recognition of the intellectual value inherent in producing new scientific data.