TY - JOUR
T1 - Data-Sharing Across Otolaryngology
T2 - Comparing Journal Policies and Their Adherence to the FAIR Principles
AU - Johnson, Austin
AU - Bouvette, Max
AU - Rangu, Nitin
AU - Morley, Timothy
AU - Schultz, Adam
AU - Torgerson, Trevor
AU - Vassar, Matt
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - Objective: Data-sharing plays an essential role in advancing scientific understanding. Here, we aim to identify the commonalities and differences in data-sharing policies endorsed by otolaryngology journals and to assess their adherence to the FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles. Methods: Data-sharing policies were searched for among 111 otolaryngology journals, as listed by Scimago Journal & Country Rank. Policy extraction of the top biomedical journals as ranked by Google Scholar metrics were used as a comparison. The FAIR principles for scientific data management and stewardship were used for the extraction framework. This occurred in a blind, masked, and independent fashion. Results: Of the 111 ranked otolaryngology journals, 100 met inclusion criteria. Of those 100 journals, 79 provided data-sharing policies. There was a clear lack of standardization across policies, along with specific gaps in accessibility and reusability which need to be addressed. Seventy-two policies (of 79; 91%) designated that metadata should have globally unique and persistent identifiers. Seventy-one (of 79; 90%) policies specified that metadata should clearly include the identifier of the data they describe. Fifty-six policies (of 79; 71%) outlined that metadata should be richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attributes. Conclusion: Otolaryngology journals have varying data-sharing policies, and adherence to the FAIR principles appears to be moderate. This calls for increased data transparency, allowing for results to be reproduced, confirmed, and debated.
AB - Objective: Data-sharing plays an essential role in advancing scientific understanding. Here, we aim to identify the commonalities and differences in data-sharing policies endorsed by otolaryngology journals and to assess their adherence to the FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles. Methods: Data-sharing policies were searched for among 111 otolaryngology journals, as listed by Scimago Journal & Country Rank. Policy extraction of the top biomedical journals as ranked by Google Scholar metrics were used as a comparison. The FAIR principles for scientific data management and stewardship were used for the extraction framework. This occurred in a blind, masked, and independent fashion. Results: Of the 111 ranked otolaryngology journals, 100 met inclusion criteria. Of those 100 journals, 79 provided data-sharing policies. There was a clear lack of standardization across policies, along with specific gaps in accessibility and reusability which need to be addressed. Seventy-two policies (of 79; 91%) designated that metadata should have globally unique and persistent identifiers. Seventy-one (of 79; 90%) policies specified that metadata should clearly include the identifier of the data they describe. Fifty-six policies (of 79; 71%) outlined that metadata should be richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attributes. Conclusion: Otolaryngology journals have varying data-sharing policies, and adherence to the FAIR principles appears to be moderate. This calls for increased data transparency, allowing for results to be reproduced, confirmed, and debated.
KW - FAIR
KW - data-sharing
KW - metadata
KW - otolaryngology
KW - reproducibility
KW - transparency
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85162980748&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/00034894231185642
DO - 10.1177/00034894231185642
M3 - Article
C2 - 37431814
AN - SCOPUS:85162980748
SN - 0003-4894
VL - 133
SP - 105
EP - 110
JO - Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology
JF - Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology
IS - 1
ER -