Dear colleagues,
I am very interested in hearing your opinion about using data collected by others.
Nowadays it is somewhat common to share data after publishing a paper. That data is available in different websites, such as repositories or at the author's personal website.
Occasionally, authors specify themselves if others can use their data or not (including which uses they allow). In other instances, data is very old or the allowed uses are not specified.
It goes without saying that proper acknowledgement should be made when using others' data. That includes at a minimum a citation. I am not sure about additional steps regarding the use of others' data. Should the authors be always contacted regardless of whether the dataset is available online or not? Should one expect a co-authorship when using someone else's data? If a dataset is very old and the authors are retired, can the data still be used? Do these expectations depend on the use of the data?
I would like to know people's opinions about how acknowledgement should be made and how one should go about using other researchers' data.
Cheers,
Ana
@Lopes using one's data (already used in a published study) does not entitle for co-authorship however, the researcher needs to seek permission (in case prior general permission is not provided) and provide proper acknowledgment.
I agree with Imran Anwar , in that want should always first seek permission to use the data and cite the researchers accordingly, but you one not include them as co-authors since the mere collection of data is insufficient to warrant this!
Here's an example this group was created by making such a request.. David Booth
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