Recognizing Our Collective Responsibility in the Prioritization of Open Data Metrics

With the rise in data-sharing policies, development of supportive infrastructure, and the amount of data published over the last decades, evaluation and assessment are increasingly necessary to understand the reach, impact, and return on investment of data-sharing practices. As biomedical research stakeholders prepare for the implementation of the updated National Institutes of Health (NIH) Data Management and Sharing Policy in 2023, it is essential that the development of responsible, evidence-based open data metrics are prioritized. If the community is not mindful of our responsibility in building for assessment upfront, there are prominent risks to the advancement of open data-sharing practices: failing to live up to the policy’s goals, losing community ownership of the open data landscape, and creating disparate incentive systems that do not allow for researcher reward. These risks can be mitigated if the community recognizes data as its own scholarly output, resources and leverages open infrastructure, and builds broad community agreement around approaches for open data metrics, including using existing standards and resources. In preparation for the NIH policy, the community has an opportune moment to build for researchers’ best interests and support the advancement of biomedical sciences, including assessment, reward, and mechanisms for improving policy resources and supportive infrastructure as the space evolves.