Data Sharing in Education Science

• Published in: AERA open Vol. 7; no. 1
• Main Authors: Logan, Jessica A. R., Hart, Sara A., Schatschneider, Christopher
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-01-2021; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Data; Educational Research; Information management; Information Processing; Information sharing; Shared Resources and Services; open science; data sharing; data management
• ISSN: 2332-8584; 2332-8584
• DOI: 10.1177/23328584211006475

Many research agencies are now requiring that data collected as part of funded projects be shared. However, the practice of data sharing in education sciences has lagged these funder requirements. We assert that this is likely because researchers generally have not been made aware of these requirements and of the benefits of data sharing. Furthermore, data sharing is usually not a part of formal training, so many researchers may be unaware of how to properly share their data. Finally, the research culture in education science is often filled with concerns regarding the sharing of data. In this article, we address each of these areas, discussing the wide range of benefits of data sharing, the many ways by which data can be shared; provide a step by step guide to start sharing data; and respond to common concerns.