[Rdap] Details about Springer Nature's new research data

Tue Feb 27 17:28:32 EST 2018

A couple of notes on this "service." If you click through to submit, its platform is Figshare. Not sure how I feel about that, especially since Figshare is getting into the academic IR game. 

Second, I agree that they are charging for the low hanging fruit. And the $340 per dataset sounds reasonable, but isn't. For a typical research paper, that's at minimum $2040-3060 (assuming 6-9 datasets, one dataset per each figure in a basic science research article). Some labs might be able to afford this, but not on top of publication charges.

Tina Griffin

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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2018 20:10:16 +0000
From: Mike Smit <Mike.Smit at Dal.Ca>
To: "Research Data, Access and Preservation" <rdap at asist.org>
Subject: Re: [Rdap] FW: Details about Springer Nature's new reserach
	data support services
Message-ID:
	<CAHaBDfY9Pbz9N5B1+1xa+AtAk3_zrno7zpgXCx5=mD4dp6yrgw at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Fascinating. Thank you for sharing this!

My complaint is they're "solving" the *easy* RDM problems, for a fee.
There's no indication they deal with hosting, preservation, labelling, metadata population, file format conversion, or the various other pain points researchers encounter.  Looking at their features:

? ensure data are correctly labelled and that labels are consistent

This is compliance checking.  In my main field (ocean data) that's basically a script:
https://github.com/ioos/compliance-checker

They aren't doing the labelling themselves - they can't.

? create clear and understandable descriptions of datasets

Crafting a description is interesting - but I doubt this is evidence-based, because I've gone looking for evidence on good descriptions and not found it.

? increase findability by improving metadata and keywords

I am skeptical of this "improving metadata" bit. Adding keywords, sure.
But how confident are you that they'll be adding accurate keywords to a dataset they have no familiarity with?

? generate persistent DOIs for datasets

This is an API call. I guess there may be some cost associated with that, but you can set up most repositories to do this automatically at publish time...

? add relevant funder information

... again provided by the researcher. What's the value add here?

? personal information is treated in compliance with HIPPA or other appropriate standards.

Assuming they mean HIPAA, that's fine, but this is again compliance checking. They aren't actually doing the deidentification. And no mention of research ethics compliance - which leads to my other point, which is that some of this is best dealt with at the ethics application stage, not after completion.

 ? Where needed, we?ll ... assign a CC-0 license to the dataset.

Listen, I like public domain as much as the next RDM zealot, but prescribing a license isn't going to work universally. Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good - if a researcher really wants CC-BY, and it complies with funding/publication rules, do we really need to die on this hill?

I was thoroughly underwhelmed by this offering. We're providing a service that doesn't exclude the tough bits as part of an ongoing action research project - but nice to know what an hour of my time is worth, according to the market. :)

Cheers!

Mike

Associate Professor
School of Information Management
Dalhousie University

On Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 10:27 AM, Ali Krzton <alk0043 at auburn.edu> wrote:

> Hi list members,
>
> I thought I?d get people?s reactions to this.  My initial reaction was 
> along the lines of, ?Why is Springer trying to do my job for me and 
> charge my faculty for the privilege??  Am I overreacting?  Do you all 
> think there?s a place for this kind of service?  I?m certainly not 
> hostile to the idea of value-added data curation.  ICPSR and other repositories do that.
> But this seems different, and potentially troublesome.
>
> Best,
>
> Ali Krzton
>
> Research Data Management Librarian
>
> RBD Library
>
> Auburn University
>
> alk0043 at auburn.edu
>
> Ph: 334-844-8268 <(334)%20844-8268>
>
> ORCID: 0000-0001-9979-2471
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Schatz, Robert, Springer SBM US [mailto:
> Bob.Schatz at springernature.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 21, 2018 11:36 AM
> *To:* Ali Krzton <alk0043 at auburn.edu>
> *Subject:* Details about Springer Nature's new reserach data support 
> services
>
>
>
> Alicia,
>
>
>
> If you have five minutes, I?d like to share details about Springer 
> Nature?s new Research Data Services. It is unique among major publishers.
>
>
>
> We?re introducing these services because of the increasing demands 
> under which researchers are placed by funders, governmental agencies 
> and colleagues to make their dataset open and accessible. Frequently, 
> these datasets are not in a state ready for sharing.  Our service 
> allows your researchers, or the university on their behalf, to 
> outsource this work to an experienced team we have in place willing and able to take on this work.
>
>
>
> The support service takes datasets, including spreadsheets, code, 
> videos, and images (see the attachment about the various data types 
> we?ll accept) and makes them compliant, findable and accessible. As 
> needed, just a few of the things we do are check labels for 
> completeness and consistency, make sure metadata and descriptors are 
> appropriately assigned and check to see that personal information is 
> treated in compliance with HIPPA or other appropriate standards.  
> Where needed, we?ll acquire a DOI and assign a CC-0 license to the dataset.
>
>
>
> There are numerous other checks and enhancements we provide, 
> completing for researchers the necessary work to make their datasets 
> more open.  The service can be applied to datasets not tied to a 
> publication, associated with article submissions (to Springer Nature 
> journals or those of other
> publishers) or attached to already-published articles that reside in 
> your institutional repository.
>
>
>
> Individual researchers can take advantage of this service for $340 per 
> dataset.  Bundles of ten or more datasets can be prepaid by libraries, 
> departments, schools or offices on campus, as best meets your needs 
> and resources. When twenty or more are paid for in advance, discounts 
> ranging from 10%-15% will be applied, lowering the per-dataset charge 
> to as low as $289. Whether the university uses this service 
> extensively or selectively, this is a great value.
>
>
>
> Other related services to be offered include web-based or on-campus 
> training to help librarians and researchers understand how best to 
> navigate the data management landscape and reporting of data 
> compliance related to articles published in Springer Nature journals.  
> The attached brochures provides more details.
>
>
>
> I would like to discuss with you how we can best make these services 
> available to your researchers. Can we set up time to talk?
>
>
>
> Your thoughts and questions are most welcome. Thanks for reading. I 
> look forward to hearing from you.
>
>
>
> Bob Schatz
>
>
>
> Bob Schatz
>
> Institutional Engagement Manager
>
> Open Research Group
>
>
>
> *Springer* *Nature*
>
> Remote Office:
>
> 1918 S Mount Vernon Drive
>
> Spokane, WA 99223 USA
>
>
>
> Ph:  1 646 258 2126 <(646)%20258-2126>
>
> Fax:  011 44 20 3 192 2010
>
> Bob.Schatz at springernature.com
>
> www.springernature.com
>
> -       - -
>
> Springer Nature is one of the world?s leading global research, 
> educational and professional
>
> publishers, created in 2015 through the combination of Nature 
> Publishing Group,
>
> Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business 
> Media
>
>
>
>
>
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