Advancing recognition for FAIR and open data: NWO supports Make Data Count as essential infrastructure for open science

DOI: 10.60804/KKE3-6Q77

Marta Teperek is the Programme Leader for FAIR Data at Open Science NL. She is a researcher by training and obtained her PhD in epigenetics and developmental biology from the University of Cambridge.

Hans de Jonge is the Director of Open Science NL. He has worked at NWO since 2018. As a programme leader, he was responsible for various aspects of NWO’s open science policy.

Can you tell us a bit about your role and NWO’s work on open data?

Hans de Jonge is the Director and Marta Teperek is the Programme Leader for FAIR and Open Data at Open Science NL (OSNL). OSNL is a special unit within the Dutch Research Council (NWO) tasked with stimulating the transition to open science. As part of our role, we oversee NWO’s policies on research data management as well as funding initiatives that support FAIR and open data. For years, NWO has been investing in promoting FAIR and open data, alongside the five key elements required to drive cultural change:

• Infrastructure – Making research data FAIR and open possible.

This includes support from Open Science NL for the development of open science infrastructures. In 2024, €17.5 million has been allocated for this purpose.

• User Interface/Experience – Making FAIR and open data easy for researchers.

Both NWO and Open Science NL have funded research-performing organisations to establish Digital Competence Centres (DCCs). These centres appoint data stewards who support researchers in making their data FAIR and open.

• Communities – Making FAIR and open data the norm.

Open Science NL has funded initiatives that strengthen adoption of open science and open data, including a national network of local open science communities.

• Incentives – Making adoption of FAIR and open data practices rewarding.

Through the Open Science Fund, NWO supports researchers in implementing open science practices. Grants of up to €50,000 have been awarded for projects that promote FAIR data and software.

• Policy – Making FAIR and open data required.

Since 2016, NWO has had a policy on research data management. Grantees must submit a data management plan and, as a minimum, make the data underpinning publications publicly available.

Why did NWO decide to support Make Data Count through the SCOSS program?

NWO supports many national infrastructures which are essential for the implementation of open science. The selection of an infrastructure for inclusion in a SCOSS pledging round serves as an additional validation for us, confirming that the broader community recognises it as essential. Whenever SCOSS issues a funding pledge, NWO carefully reviews the organisations involved. If an organisation’s mission and vision align with NWO’s strategic interests and priorities, we may decide to provide financial support. This was clearly the case with Make Data Count. 

How do you see Make Data Count’s work advancing efforts in open science, open data and research evaluation? How can a better understanding of data usage help to advance the goals of your organization and your communities?

We have recently commissioned research which looked at the availability of research data supporting publications from NWO-funded research grants. It turned out that despite the policies and investment NWO has been making to support FAIR and open data, only 20% of publications from 2023 mentioned data sharing. So definitely more needs to be done, in particular with regards to recognising and rewarding researchers who make their datasets open, FAIR and reusable. To recognise and reward data contributions that are FAIR, open, and reusable, one must first be able to find them and understand how they are used. At present, neither is straightforward. That is why the work of Make Data Count and the resources it has provided to the community, such as the Data Citation Corpus, are essential foundations for enabling the recognition and reward of researchers who make their datasets FAIR, open, and reusable.

What do you see as the most pressing needs for funders in relation to data evaluation? What are technical, social or cultural advances you would like to see?

While improvement and increased investment are needed across all five elements essential for culture change, three areas stand out as particularly critical:

• Implementation of persistent identifiers (PIDs):

Consistent use of PIDs significantly enhances the discoverability of research data and facilitates more effective reporting on datasets.

• Better data citation practices and understanding of data reuse:

To gain meaningful insights into data reuse, citation practices must become more consistent, and citation metadata must be openly available. Further research is also needed to understand how data is reused and how such reuse can be measured at scale—while accounting for the relevant context.

• Recognition and reward for data sharing practices:

Funders have a key role to play not only by integrating data sharing into grant evaluation, but also by incentivising research-performing organisations to reflect the value of data sharing in their hiring and promotion criteria. For example, Open Science NL has provided impulse funding to encourage institutions to take such steps.

While funders play a crucial role in advancing the three priority areas outlined above, progress depends on concerted action from the broader ecosystem, including publishers, research-performing organisations, and infrastructure providers. This underscores the importance of Make Data Count, which brings these stakeholders together and plays a vital role in shaping both policy and cultural change.

We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Make Data Count and other members of the community to collectively drive progress in the evaluation and recognition of research data.