Availability of Research Data as a «Must-Have» of Modern Science

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of enduring value to the academic community. Researchers must trust their colleagues to rely on their scientific results. Therefore, the cornerstone of scientific communication is the ability to know the content of colleagues' work (specifically their successes and failures), to understand how exactly these results were achieved, and to verify them by replicating the research, if necessary. Naturally, it's also essential to cite correctly primary sources, giving due respect to the contributions of other scientists, whose work has aided one's progress in science. This means that the higher the availability of manuscripts or other comprehensive descriptions of scientific results with detailed descriptions of the research process, collected data, methods of processing, and interpretation, the higher the efficiency of the research process. This is beneficial not only for science and education but also for society as a whole, which invests a lot of resources in supporting the research process, and expects productive results in the form of new knowledge and innovations. The article provides a retrospective analysis of the value of working with data by using the scientific heritage of Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, and Honoured Worker of Science and Technology Vasily Ivanovich Pyla as an example. A brief overview of technical innovations (the internet, universal computerization, electronic scientific and educational archives, and digital information formats) is given in the paper. This translates the concept of open science into practical terms. It shows how open access and open science are being implemented in Ukraine. An author's perspective is offered on how to ensure that the data from scientific research by domestic scientists becomes available to the widest possible audience: representatives of the academic community (scientists, teachers), as well as all other interested parties (business, civil society). It is also proposed to draw up a research data management plan and publish it along with the data packages and accompanying scientific documentation for convenient utilization. In this case, the capabilities of the National Repository of Academic Texts and the institutional repositories of scientific organizations and higher education institutions should be used. This approach should be strictly applied for research projects, conducted for budget funds (scientific research and developments, as well as dissertations (thesis) by the applicants of the third and fourth levels of educational-scientific qualifications (degrees). Recommendations are given regarding the content of the data management plan (minimum set of requirements) and the publication procedure itself (including the choice of e-archive, metadata description of the data set, and maintaining data protection availability from hostile changes throughout their lifecycle).