1.3 Research Data Management Practices at the University of Tartu

Paradigm shift in thinking about open science has resulted in the development of open science policies all over the world. Funders of science have here taken a firm initiative, because they expect that the projects they are financing would bring maximum long-term benefit for society. In the academic world, the key role is performed by researchers. Research publications and the underlying data form the most valuable property of a researcher, determining their academic career. Quality of research results can adequately be measured only when the underlying data can be accessed, interpreted and re-used either in replicate research or as a basis for new hypotheses. Today, the obvious and personal benefits of the researcher in sharing their research data are rather small; mostly, researchers are aware of the loss of time and resources related to archiving and sharing of data. In Estonia, the open science policy is still largely in formation. Since 2009, the University of Tartu Library has been advocating the principles of open science. The Library joined DataCite in 2015 and started to offer research data management-related services and training courses to Estonian librarians and researchers. The practices of research data management in Estonia have not yet been thoroughly studied and established. A web-based pilot survey “Research Data Management and Sharing Practices among the University of Tartu Researchers and Doctoral Students in the Fields of Natural and Exact Sciences and Social Sciences” was carried out in spring 2016. The results were analysed by using quantitative methods. The survey and analysis were motivated by the need for mapping and recording the current situation in how the University of Tartu researchers and doctoral students collect, preserve, share and re-use research data. It was necessary to find out what kind of additional information on the subject is still needed, as well as to identify the main obstacles and, finally, to discover which are the benefits of data sharing as seen by researchers. In general, the idea of open science was welcomed by respondents. My paper examines the outcomes of the survey, describing the situation where the researchers do not have the support of national and institutional guidelines in research data management. Results of the survey will help us in developing research data management-related services at the University of Tartu Library, and will also allow us to offer advice to the Estonian Research Council about the drawing up of the Open Data policy in Estonia