The importance of data papers in national scientific development

Abstract

Almost 20 years ago, I developed a project in the Taim Ecological Station that resulted in several scientific articles and monographs for graduation and masters. Associated with this project, I conducted a survey of mammals in different environments and distances from the existing road in the area. This survey data was never used to generate knowledge. 

Despite the constant pressure from postgraduate programs and support agencies to expand our scientific production, there are countless cases like the one in the Taim and masters and doctoral degrees that are never transformed into scientific articles. The worst thing is that we promise ourselves and the rest of society that someday we will publish that data, spending months and years without concretizing our promises. Even intensely analyzed data can be reworked when associated with new information or from the perspective of a new area of knowledge.

The Latin American Data in Science (LADS) was created to provide this appreciation of databases to continue to generate knowledge. At the same time, credit is given to all the work of fundraising, collecting, and processing information that the generation of a database requires. Finally, the data collected in the Taim ESEC are available to be analyzed by researchers worldwide and assist in the planning and management of the protected area (Bager & Castro, 2021).

The publication of data papers brings numerous benefits to researchers and scientific knowledge. The most obvious is the socialization of information, with direct gains in increasing the number of publications, both for the database itself and the other articles based on it. However, data papers are excellent strategies for reducing research costs and the expansion of researcher networks.

LADS, created to publish data papers exclusively, brings the opportunity to give due value to years of stored data, often considered exhausted and obsolete. It is an honor to be the Editor of a journal born with such responsibility and innovation.

I invite you to search the databases of past research and even of research in progress. The time has come to retrieve this critical information and make it public, receiving due credit for the work done. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)