On June 30th, the Research Data Alliance released a document entitled “RDA Recommendations and Guidelines on Data Sharing for COVID-19”.
From this March, the leader of NI4OS-Europe Life Science community, Dr. Zoe Cournia is also a member of the RDA COVID-19 Working Group. NI4OS-Europe joined forces to take action against COVID-19, too, check out our activities by clicking on NI4OS VS COVID19 in the menu bar.
During the past few critical months, the challenges of sharing and disseminating research findings unfolded in front of our eyes. RDA set up a working group for the purpose of helping to address and to develop guidelines and recommendations regarding research data during this unprecedented set of conditions the coronavirus outbreak manufactured in science. Managing research data correctly is essential because combined with the right context and meaning, it can be used as reliable information in public health emergencies and boost rapid innovation is research.
The guidelines extend to research software sharing, in recognition of the key role in software in analysing data.
The work focuses on four research areas:
- Clinical
- Epidemiology
- Omics
- Social Sciences
These research areas are discussed from four approaches:
- Community Participation
- Indigenous Data
- Legal & Ethical Considerations
- Research Software
By creating these guidelines and recommendations, stakeholders are provided with best practices and will be able to maximise their efficiency. Also, they can act more prepared in future emergencies. The document helps policy makers and funders to respond to these kind of emergencies with timely, quality data sharing techniques.