Open access to data at Yale University

Open access to research data increases knowledge, advances science, and benefits society. Many researchers are now required to share data. Two research centers at Yale have launched projects that support this mission. Both centers have developed technology, policies, and workflows to facilitate open access to data in their respective fields. The Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project at the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation advocates for the responsible sharing of clinical research data. The Project, which began in 2014, is committed to open science and data transparency, and supports research attempting to produce concrete benefits to patients, the medical community, and society as a whole. Early experience sharing data, made available by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) through the YODA Project, has demonstrated a demand for shared clinical research data as a resource for investigators. To date, the YODA Project has facilitated the sharing of data for over 65 research projects. The Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) Data Archive is a digital repository that shares and preserves the research produced by scholars affiliated with ISPS. Since its launch in 2011, the Archive holds data and code underlying almost 90 studies. The Archive is committed to the ideals of scientific reproducibility and transparency: It provides free and public access to research materials and accepts content for distribution under a Creative Commons license. The Archive has pioneered a workflow, “curating for reproducibility,” that ensures long term usability and data quality.