. I mention this because the authors critique the software metaphor because “using it to alter or affect the academic reward system is a tricky prospect”. Yet there is little to suggest that data publication and corresponding citation alters that system either. Indeed there is little if any evidence that data publication and citation incentivize data sharing or stewardship. As Christine Borgman suggests, we need to look more closely at who we are trying to incentivize to do what. There is no reason to assume it follows the same model as research literature publication. It may be beyond the scope of this paper to fully examine incentive structures, but it at least needs to be acknowledged that building on the current model doesn’t seem to be working.
. I mention this because the authors critique the software metaphor because “using it to alter or affect the academic reward system is a tricky prospect”. Yet there is little to suggest that data publication and corresponding citation alters that system either. Indeed there is little if any evidence that data publication and citation incentivize data sharing or stewardship. As Christine Borgman suggests, we need to look more closely at who we are trying to incentivize to do what. There is no reason to assume it follows the same model as research literature publication. It may be beyond the scope of this paper to fully examine incentive structures, but it at least needs to be acknowledged that building on the current model doesn’t seem to be working.