Fostering a Culture of Data Citation for High-Quality Research

Fostering a Culture of Data Citation for High-Quality Research PUBMET Conference 2025, Zagreb, Croatia | 12 September 2025 Dr Christina Bornatici (FORS, CESSDA) Dr Farah Karim (GESIS, CESSDA), presenter & Tuomas J. Alaterä (FSD, CESSDA) Based on joint contributions of the CESSDA Data Citation Working Group CC-BY 4.0 Plan 1. Who we are – CESSDA and the Data Citation Working Group 2. Why data citation matters – Importance of data and data citation for high-quality research 3. What we recommend – Core elements of data citation – Guidance for key stakeholders CESSDA, CESSDA (Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives) A European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) bringing together national social science data archives across Europe Its role is to: ●Ensure that data are preserved, curated, and reusable, fostering trust in research ●Facilitate cross-border access to high quality social science research data ●Provide integrated and sustainable data services for the social sciences ●Foster collaboration among data infrastructures, researchers, and decision-makers CESSDA Data Citation Working Group ●Brings together open and FAIR research data experts from across the CESSDA consortium ●Aims to advance data citation practices in the social sciences ●Develops practical guidance and resources to support effective implementation and promotion of research data citation ●Participating data archives and repositories: FORS - Switzerland (lead) ADP - Slovenia GESIS - Germany So.Da.Net - Greece CSDA - Czech Republic Sikt - Norway UKDS - United Kingdom FSD - Finland SND - Sweden ●Core role: Data constitute the foundation of analysis, the basis for generating findings, and the prerequisite for reproducibility. Yet, they remain undervalued as independent and legitimate research outputs ●Invisible labour: ○Creating and sharing data requires careful collection, management, and documentation by researchers ○Data archives and repositories with curation processes then ensure data reliability and long-term accessibility ○Still these efforts to produce and publish high-quality data receive little academic recognition ●Consequences: Without recognition and citation, data risk being underused and duplicated, creators lose credit, data sharing is discouraged, and research loses transparency and reproducibility. Data: Essential but Undervalued ●Low awareness Many researchers, and even academic publishers, are unfamiliar with how to cite data correctly ●Publishing barriers Citation requirements are often absent or applied inconsistently across academic publishers Challenges in Data Citation ●Metadata gaps Missing components – e.g., version of the data or persistent identifiers – limit discoverability and reuse ●Weak incentives Academic assessments prioritise publications over data outputs ●Recognition Data citation gives visibility to data and their authors, treats data as legitimate research outputs, and attributes credit to data authors ●Transparency Data citation facilitates verification, replication, and traceability of findings, while reinforcing trust and scientific integrity Why Data Citation Matters ●Reuse Data citation is a FAIR-compliant practice, ensuring data are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable in new research ●Impact Data citation values data collection and sharing, enables tracking of data use, and supports new indicators for Open Science and research assessment, with careful attention to disciplinary and data-type differences, and qualitative assessments (e.g., CoARA) Driving Change in Data Citation Practices ●Achieving high-quality research is not just about robust methods and transparent reporting ●It also requires a cultural shift: ”if you use it, you cite it” ●Recognition for data authors = recognition for intellectual contribution ●Change happens when policy and culture overlap, driving new research practices Rules, mandates, infrastructure, formal requirements Norms, values, attitudes, behaviours CESSDA Data Citation Guide High-Level Research Policy and Strategy Development Entities 1. Require data to be cited 2. Include all six core components in guiding policies 3. Make the benefits of data citation clear in policies 4. Require active reporting of data publication outputs through research infrastructures Require citing and reporting of data publications ●Recognition – Credit for data authors – Value data as legitimate research outputs ●Transparency – Strengthen reproducibility and openness ●Reuse – Enable data use beyond the original study, maximising impact Conclusion: Data Citation Enhances Research Quality Research Quality Recognition Transparency Reuse Together, we can foster a culture of data citation! CESSDA Data Citation Guide datacitation.cessda.eu This guide is based on the publication: Bornatici, C., Jernung, A., Alaterä, T. J., Tveit Sandberg, L., Strand, K., Štebe, J., & Trtíková, I. (2025). CESSDA Recommendations on Data Citation: Practical Recommendations for Key Stakeholders . https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15043854 Thank you for your attention! Farah.K[email protected] [email protected] www.cessda.eu Illustrations CC0 pxhere.com