Little more than decade back biodiversity data publishing was opportunistic and secondary spin-off activity of the biodiversity research and conservation management chain. Today, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility facilitate free and open access to over 420 million primary biodiversity data records contributed by publishers across the globe. This is an outcome of a growing realization that free and open access to biodiversity data is crucial to take informed decisions and actions for sustainable use of biotic resources and conservation of biodiversity areas. In recent past use of biodiversity data in research, conservation and management activities is on rise. However, users often complain about the low degree of ‘fitness-for-use’ of the accessible data. Most of the times potential use of data is hampered because of lack of adequate metadata, that can demonstrate the fintness-for-use of a given dataset.
To overcome this an appropriate incentivisation mechanism is essential, that can provide due credit and acknowledgement to a research groups for their efforts in authoring good metadata. In recent past a concept of ‘scholarly data publishing’ is being talked about where in both data and metadata undergo peer-review similar to other scientific publications. Pensoft publishing has launched a fresh data only journal called ‘Biodiversity Data Journal, and accepts data papers in six of its other journal titles. European aquatic biodiversity community through EU funded project ‘BioFresh’ has engaged with editors of 29 aquatic biodiversity journals to being accepting data papers. GBIF node in Columbia and South Africa are planning to kick start a journal that will publish data papers. Recently, Nature Publishing Group has announced a peer-reviewed data publishing only journal called ‘Scientific Data’. These developments announce the arrival of the new data publishing era ‘Scholarly Data Publishing’. Biodiversity science and biodiversity informatics stands to gain a lot by being on the forefront of this tide.
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Exploring the future of scholarly publishing of biodiversity data
1. TDWG 2013
Exploring the future of
scholarly publishing of
biodiversity data
Vishwas Chavan
Senior Programme Officer for CONETNT MOBILISATION
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
Email:
vchavan@gbif.org
30 October 2013
6. Significance of data
• Policy and Decisions
can benefit from
• Knowledge
and
• Information
that depends on
• Primary Data
7. Need for International
Mechanism
“An international mechanism is needed to make
biodiversity data and information accessible
worldwide.”
- OECD MegaScience Forum
10. Scientific Publications using GBIF
mediated data
The numbers on this slide have been revised from previous versions to exclude official reports, academic theses
and conference proceedings.
Last updated: 2013-04-08
11. Scientific Publications using GBIF
mediated data
Main uses:
Main uses:
••EcologicalNiche Modelling (ENM)
Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM)
••Speciesdistributions
Species distributions
••Climateimpact studies
Climate impact studies
••Conservation
Conservation
••Invasivealien species
Invasive alien species
••Agriculture
Agriculture
••Humanhealth
Human health
http://www.mendeley.com/groups/1068301/gbif-public-library/
18. Mainstreaming data publishing
Source: Moritz et. al. (2011). Towards mainstreaming of biodiversity
data publishing: recommendations of the GBIF Data Publishing
Framework Task Group. BMC Bioinformatics, 12 (Suppl. 15): S1
GBIF Data Publishing Framework Task Group
GBIF Data Publishing Framework Task Group
19. Data Paper….
Enhancements such
Enhancements such
as statistical analysis,
as statistical analysis,
content assessment
content assessment
and visual
and visual
presentation are
presentation are
feasible….
feasible….
24. Data Paper….
“The Data Paper is an evolutionary step in
ensuring discovery and access of biodiversity
data resources over Internet. It will place
publication of biodiversity data …on a par
with scholarly publishing”
Lyubomir Penev
Lyubomir Penev
Managing Editor
Managing Editor
PenSoft Publications
PenSoft Publications
26. Data Citation….
“It is difficult or impossible given the
existing citation metrics system to identify
who originally created or added value to
the datum”
Dave Roberts
Dave Roberts
Natural History Museum,
Natural History Museum,
London
London
Please cite this data as follows:
Please cite this data as follows:
(accessed through GBIF data portal, Mammal specimens,
(accessed through GBIF data portal, Mammal specimens,
http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/559)
http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/559)
(accessed through GBIF data portal, Vertebrate specimens,
(accessed through GBIF data portal, Vertebrate specimens,
http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/541)
http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/541)
(accessed through GBIF data portal, Natural History Museum
(accessed through GBIF data portal, Natural History Museum
Rotterdam, http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/693)
Rotterdam, http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/693)
(accessed through GBIF data portal, Database Schema for UC
(accessed through GBIF data portal, Database Schema for UC
Davis Wildlife museum,
Davis Wildlife museum,
http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/736)
http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/736)
......................................................................
......................................................................
34. Data Usage Index
“Similar to the Impact Factor for scholarly
publishing, a professional recognition
mechanism that can also assess the impact
of data publishing is urgently required”
Peter Ingwersen, Professor
Peter Ingwersen, Professor
Abo Akademi University, Finland
Abo Akademi University, Finland
Oslo University College, Norway
Oslo University College, Norway
Royal School of Library & Information Sciences, Denmark
Royal School of Library & Information Sciences, Denmark
35. Data Usage Index
Data Usage Index
(DUI)
What it is: The Data Usage Index is a
measure of the impact of data
publishing by being accessed and used
by the stakeholder communities
Source: Chavan and Ingwersen (2009) Towards a data publishing framework for
primary biodiversity data: challenges and potentials for the biodiversity
informatics community. BMC Bioinformatics, 10 (Sppl 14): S2
36. Data Usage Index
DUI is computed on the basis of 14
biodiversity data usage indicators
DUI for..
DUI for..
publishers
publishers
datasets
datasets
thematic
thematic
data
data
country
country
Source: Ingwersen and Chavan (in press). Indicators for Data Usage Index (DUI): An
incentive for publishing primary biodiversity data through the global information
infrastructure. BMC Bioinformatics (special supplement).
41. Dreaming of a future….
‘Data Publishing’ will be
treated on par with ‘Scholarly
Publishing’
‘Data Publishing’ will become
integral component of
‘Scholarly Publishing’
42. Dreaming of a future….
towards
towards
Unified
Publishing
Index
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions
BIP Index will assess:
Intrinsic biodiversity potential of a country
Capacity of the country to generate biodiversity data, and
the capacity of a country for managing and publishing biodiversity data
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions
In words of Lyubomir Penev, Managing Editor of PenSoft Publications ‘the Data Paper is an evolutionary step in ensuring discovery and access of biodiversity data resources over Internet. It will place publication of biodiversity data on a par with scholarly publishing.
I am further happy to inform this gathering that the Journal of African Biodiversity Conservation’ will have the ‘Data Paper’ section, and will thus accept Data Paper manuscripts.
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions
On the issue of ‘Data Citation’ currently it is difficult to recognise the efforts of the players involved in ‘data creation and publishing cycle’.
As Dave Roberts says it is impossible to identify who originally created or added value to the datum.
Gravity of such a statement is reflected when we look at the current practice of citing data accessed through GBIF network, which often creates panic within scientific community.
On the issue of ‘Data Citation’ currently it is difficult to recognise the efforts of the players involved in ‘data creation and publishing cycle’.
As Dave Roberts says it is impossible to identify who originally created or added value to the datum.
Gravity of such a statement is reflected when we look at the current practice of citing data accessed through GBIF network, which often creates panic within scientific community.
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions
As Peter Ingwersen (a famous webliometric expert) says currently we lack professional mechanism that can assess the impact of data publishing. Such a mechanism similar to ‘Impact Factor’ for scholarly publication is urgently required, if our goal is to elevate data publishing on par with scholarly publishing.
Data Usage Index as proposed is a measure of the impact of data publishing by being accessed and used by the stakeholder communities.
We have now developed and improvised the algorithm of the ‘Data Usage Index’.
We will now proceed with prototype development of ‘Data Usage Index’ for biodiversity data.
DUI is composed on the basis of 14 biodiversity data usage indicators.
Once developed DUI will be able to measure the impact of access to biodiversity data by (1) ‘Data Publishers and/or custodians, (2) datasets, (3) even thematic datasets, and finally by (4) countries.
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions
This approach will result into:
Accessibility to fit-for-use, representative content
Better science (data-intensive)
Informed decisions