[ExI] data are lost to science at 'astonishing rate'

[spike]

Tomasz, I posted this article over to Exi because it is an important topic
with another branch.  I mentioned in this forum about some family research I
had done about 24 yrs ago, information found in a paper book.  I didn't copy
the book at the time or even write down where I found the info, but it
turned out to be a critical link in a chain that otherwise could never have
been joined.  My point is that as science loses data at an appalling rate,
history loses data even more quickly.  The libraries of Alexandria are
burning furiously to this day, with far more fuel than in 642 AD.

spike



-----Original Message-----
From: tt-bounces at postbiota.org [mailto:tt-bounces at postbiota.org] On Behalf
Of Tomasz Rola
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 10:53 AM
To: Transhuman Tech
Cc: Tomasz Rola
Subject: [tt] (phys.org) Data are lost to science at 'astonishing rate'


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http://phys.org/print306679504.html

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Data are lost to science at 'astonishing rate'

   December 19th, 2013 in Other Sciences / Other

   New  evidence  reported  in the journal Current Biology on December 19
   confirms  long-held  fears  about the fate of scientific data. Careful
   evaluation  of  more than 500 randomly selected studies found that the
   original  data behind those published papers have been lost to science
   at a rapid rate.

   Two  years after publication, data are essentially always available to
   other  researchers  who  might  wish  to  confirm  the  findings,  the
   researchers  found.  By  20  years  post-publication, 80% of that data
   obtained  through  publicly  funded  research  is  inaccessible due to
   mundane  issues,  primarily  old  email addresses and obsolete storage
   devices.  The  researchers  call  on  journals to require that authors
   share their data on a public archive before a paper can be published.

   "I  think  nobody  expects  that  you'd  be  able  to  get data from a
   fifty-year-old  paper,  but  to find that almost all the data sets are
   gone  at  twenty years was a bit of a surprise," says Timothy Vines of
   the University of British Columbia.

   "Publicly  funded  science  generates  an extraordinary amount of data
   each  year. Much of these data are unique to a time and place, and are
   thus  irreplaceable,  and  many  other  data  sets  are  expensive  to
   regenerate," he adds. "The current system of leaving data with authors
   means  that  almost  all  of  it  is lost over time. The data are thus
   unavailable  for  future  researchers  to check old results or use for
   entirely  new  purposes. Losing data is a waste of research funds, and
   it limits how we can do science."

   Vines  and  his colleagues came to this conclusion by examining papers
   reporting  a  very specific and relatively simple type of data: length
   measurements of plants and animals. Those papers were selected because
   length  measurements  have  been collected in exactly the same way for
   decades,  making  straightforward comparisons over time much easier to
   do.

   The analysis found that the odds of obtaining an original data set for
   any one of those papers fell by 17% every year. In Vines's estimation,
   journals  are  the  only party with sufficient leverage to ensure that
   the data underlying published studies will get shared.

   "Scientific  data are being lost at an astonishing rate, and concerted
   action--particularly  by  journals--is needed to make sure it is saved
   for future researchers," Vines says.

   More  information: Current Biology, Vines et al.: "The availability of
   research     data     declines     rapidly    with    article    age."
   [9]dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.11.014

   Provided by Cell Press

   "Data are lost to science at 'astonishing rate'." December 19th, 2013.
   [10]http://phys.org/news/2013-12-lost-science-astonishing.html

References

   1. http://phys.org/
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   5. http://phys.org/rss-feed/editorials/
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   7. https://plus.google.com/116557644723047703916/
   8. http://phys.org/
   9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.11.014
  10. http://phys.org/news/2013-12-lost-science-astonishing.html
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