What Agricultural Researchers Say about Open Access and Data Sharing

Paper presented at the 2018 United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN) 16th Biennial Conference at Washington State UniversityThe Ithaka S+R Agriculture Research Support Services project provided an opportunity for librarians to interview agricultural researchers about a variety of topics. We were interested in a more thorough look at two related topics that have been at the forefront of many libraries’ research support services in the sciences -- open access and data sharing. Taking advantage of the wealth of existing data generated by the Ithaka project, we reanalyzed the interview transcripts from our two participating institutions and read all of the publicly available reports from other participating institutions. Our findings revealed common themes around researchers' interest in and concerns about publishing in open access journals. There was more variety in researchers' opinions about data sharing, and its associated costs and benefits. Based on our findings, we identified roles for libraries, especially to address the impediments to open access publishing and data sharing. One particularly unique aspect of our study is an analysis of researchers' values and motivations regarding open access and data sharing compared to those of librarians. Overall, this study provides valuable disciplinary context that can inform how librarians approach agricultural researchers about open access and data sharing and suggests library roles that may help address common complaints and barriers