Sharing ideas and data

Bryan Venters

Bryan Venters is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation at Pennsylvania State University, University Park.

It's a win-win situation.

Recently, a researcher asked me to provide more information about a paper of mine. I had a mixed reaction: flattery, but also hesitation. I appreciated that others were reading and enjoying it. Yet, despite being an ardent supporter of open access, I couldn't help wondering whether this researcher might find a new, exciting result that I had overlooked.

Authors are obliged to provide data and unique reagents freely to the scientific community. However, before publication, the sharing of ideas and data is played out like a high-stakes game of poker. What data do I show and what data do I hold close my chest? Everyone is vying for the highest-impact publication in a world of 'publish or perish'.

Despite the ostensible drawbacks, much is gained by sharing data with colleagues. After our last weekly lab meeting, a fellow postdoc asked me for some of my unpublished data sets to help her interpret her own data. I was more than happy to help out. A sense of collegial trust and respect assured me that we could both benefit from this exchange of data. Indeed, it allowed us both to look at our projects from a different perspective and to brainstorm new hypotheses to test.

Unpublished data shared judiciously at conferences is also beneficial to the scientific community and ultimately helps to advance science. Nevertheless, filling these conference halls are hundreds of poker players, mulling over their respective hands.

From: http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2009/091126/full/nj7272-529b.html

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