title: When data sharing gets close to 100%: what human paleogenetics can teach the open science movement.
abstract: This study analyzes data sharing regarding mitochondrial, Y chromosomal and autosomal polymorphisms in a total of 162 papers on ancient human DNA published between 1988 and 2013. The estimated sharing rate was not far from totality (97.6% ± 2.1%) and substantially higher than observed in other fields of genetic research (evolutionary, medical and forensic genetics). Both a questionnaire-based survey and the examination of Journals' editorial policies suggest that this high sharing rate cannot be simply explained by the need to comply with stakeholders requests. Most data were made available through body text, but the use of primary databases increased in coincidence with the introduction of complete mitochondrial and next-generation sequencing methods. Our study highlights three important aspects. First, our results imply that researchers' awareness of the importance of openness and transparency for scientific progress may complement stakeholders' policies in achieving very high sharing rates. Second, widespread data sharing does not necessarily coincide with a prevalent use of practices which maximize data findability, accessibility, useability and preservation. A detailed look at the different ways in which data are released can be very useful to detect failures to adopt the best sharing modalities and understand how to correct them. Third and finally, the case of human paleogenetics tells us that a widespread awareness of the importance of Open Science may be important to build reliable scientific practices even in the presence of complex experimental challenges.
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Rome, Italy; Istituto Italiano di Antropologia, Rome, Italy.
authors: Paolo
authors: P
authors: Anagnostou
authors: Istituto Italiano di Antropologia, Rome, Italy; Dipartimento Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Rome, Italy.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Capocasa
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
authors: Nicola
authors: N
authors: Milia
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
authors: Emanuele
authors: E
authors: Sanna
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Rome, Italy.
authors: Cinzia
authors: C
authors: Battaggia
authors: Istituto di Ricerche sulla Popolazione e le Politiche Sociali, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy.
authors: Daniela
authors: D
authors: Luzi
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Rome, Italy; Istituto Italiano di Antropologia, Rome, Italy.
authors: Giovanni
authors: G
authors: Destro Bisol
mesh_terms: D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics; D010163:Paleontology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011642:Publications; D012586:Science; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D004247:DNA