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Navigating the unfolding open data landscape in ecology and evolution

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 2, pages 420–426 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Open access to data is revolutionizing the sciences. To allow ecologists and evolutionary biologists to confidently find and use the existing data, we provide an overview of the landscape of online data infrastructures, and highlight the key points to consider when using open data. We introduce an online collaborative platform to keep a community-driven, updated list of the best sources that enable search for data in one interface. In doing so, our aim is to lower the barrier to accessing open data, and encourage its use by researchers hoping to increase the scope, reliability and value of their findings.

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Fig. 1: A schematic representation of the layered structure of the open data landscape.
Fig. 2: The distribution of search results on pedigree data (relatedness matrix) in natural and experimental animal populations.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Candela, M. Assante, F. Mangiacrapa, C. Perciante and A. Dell’Amico for their support in the deployment and customization of the catalogue. We thank D4Science Infrastructure (www.d4science.org) for hosting the catalogue.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NIOO-KNAW, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Antica Culina, Tom W. Crowther, Marcel E. Visser & Saskia Woutersen-Windhouwer

  2. Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell’Informazione, CNR, Pisa, Italy

    Miriam Baglioni & Paolo Manghi

  3. Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Tom W. Crowther

Authors
  1. Antica Culina
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  2. Miriam Baglioni
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  3. Tom W. Crowther
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  4. Marcel E. Visser
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  5. Saskia Woutersen-Windhouwer
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  6. Paolo Manghi
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Contributions

A.C. collected the data (list of resources) and wrote the majority of the manuscript. M.E.V., T.W.C., S.W.-W., P.M. and M.B all contributed to the manuscript. P.M. and M.B. established the methodological approach for the data source description and the D4Science data catalogue. S.W.-W. also provided insights into the legal implications of data use.

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Correspondence to Antica Culina.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Culina, A., Baglioni, M., Crowther, T.W. et al. Navigating the unfolding open data landscape in ecology and evolution. Nat Ecol Evol 2, 420–426 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0458-2

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