Tag Archives: research data

Resources to Understand Reliability and Transparency in Scientific Studies

The urgency of finding solutions to challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a greatly accelerated pace of scientific research. As the volume and speed of scientific publishing have increased, openness and transparency are key to producing reliable and trusted science. Transparency about methods, data, computer code, and other aspects of research is crucial to efforts to produce results that can be reproduced and/or replicated. Our titles discuss reproducibility and replicability, open sharing of data, and fostering integrity in the scientific enterprise. All are free to download.

Reproducibility and Replicability in Science

Reproducibility and Replicability in Science

One of the pathways by which the scientific community confirms the validity of a new scientific discovery is by repeating the research that produced it. When a scientific effort fails to independently confirm the computations or results of a previous study, some fear that it may be a symptom of …[more]

Methods to Foster Transparency and Reproducibility of Federal Statistics: Proceedings of a Workshop

Methods to Foster Transparency and Reproducibility of Federal Statistics: Proceedings of a Workshop

In 2014 the National Science Foundation (NSF) provided support to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for a series of Forums on Open Science in response to a government-wide directive to support increased public access to the results of research funded by the federal …[more]

Open Science by Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research

Open Science by Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research

Openness and sharing of information are fundamental to the progress of science and to the effective functioning of the research enterprise. The advent of scientific journals in the 17th century helped power the Scientific Revolution by allowing researchers to communicate across time and space, …[more]

Enhancing Scientific Reproducibility in Biomedical Research Through Transparent Reporting: Proceedings of a Workshop

Enhancing Scientific Reproducibility in Biomedical Research Through Transparent Reporting: Proceedings of a Workshop

Sharing knowledge is what drives scientific progress – each new advance or innovation in biomedical research builds on previous observations. However, for experimental findings to be broadly accepted as credible by the scientific community, they must be verified by other researchers. An …[more]

Fostering Integrity in Research

Fostering Integrity in Research

The integrity of knowledge that emerges from research is based on individual and collective adherence to core values of objectivity, honesty, openness, fairness, accountability, and stewardship. Integrity in science means that the organizations in which research is conducted encourage those …[more]

Sharing Clinical Trial Data: Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Risk

Sharing Clinical Trial Data: Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Risk

Data sharing can accelerate new discoveries by avoiding duplicative trials, stimulating new ideas for research, and enabling the maximal scientific knowledge and benefits to be gained from the efforts of clinical trial participants and investigators. At the same time, sharing clinical trial data …[more]

Sharing Clinical Research Data: Workshop Summary

Sharing Clinical Research Data: Workshop Summary

Pharmaceutical companies, academic researchers, and government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health all possess large quantities of clinical research data. If these data were shared more widely within and across sectors, the resulting research …[more]

Statistical Challenges in Assessing and Fostering the Reproducibility of Scientific Results: Summary of a Workshop

Statistical Challenges in Assessing and Fostering the Reproducibility of Scientific Results: Summary of a Workshop

Questions about the reproducibility of scientific research have been raised in numerous settings and have gained visibility through several high-profile journal and popular press articles. Quantitative issues contributing to reproducibility challenges have been considered (including improper …[more]

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age

As digital technologies are expanding the power and reach of research, they are also raising complex issues. These include complications in ensuring the validity of research data; standards that do not keep pace with the high rate of innovation; restrictions on data sharing that reduce the …[more]

Sharing Clinical Trial Data to Advance Scientific Discovery and Improve Care

Clinical trials generate vast amounts of data, yet a large portion of this information is never published or made available to other researchers. Data sharing could advance scientific discovery and improve clinical care, but it involves potential risks and costs for key stakeholders, including clinical trialists, sponsors, researchers, and patients. Our publications discuss the challenges and opportunities for stakeholders to better harmonize incentives, policy, data standards, and governance to encourage the sharing and reuse of clinical trial data sharing.

Sharing Clinical Trial Data: Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Risk

Data sharing can accelerate new discoveries by avoiding duplicative trials, stimulating new ideas for research, and enabling the maximal scientific knowledge and benefits to be gained from the efforts of clinical trial participants and …

[more]

The Prevention and Treatment of Missing Data in Clinical Trials

Randomized clinical trials are the primary tool for evaluating new medical interventions. Randomization provides for a fair comparison between treatment and control groups, balancing out, on average, distributions of known and unknown factors …

[more]

Sharing Clinical Research Data: Workshop Summary

Pharmaceutical companies, academic researchers, and government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health all possess large quantities of clinical research data. If these data were shared more widely …

[more]

Biomarker Tests for Molecularly Targeted Therapies: Key to Unlocking Precision Medicine

Every patient is unique, and the evolving field of precision medicine aims to ensure the delivery of the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. In an era of rapid advances in biomedicine and enhanced understanding of the genetic …

[more]

Discussion Framework for Clinical Trial Data Sharing: Guiding Principles, Elements, and Activities

Sharing data generated through the conduct of clinical trials offers the promise of placing evidence about the safety and efficacy of therapies and clinical interventions on a firmer basis and enhancing the benefits of clinical trials. …

[more]

A National Cancer Clinical Trials System for the 21st Century: Reinvigorating the NCI Cooperative Group Program

The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program has played a key role in developing new and improved cancer therapies. However, the program is falling short of its potential, and the IOM recommends changes that aim …

[more]

Ovarian Cancers: Evolving Paradigms in Research and Care

In an era of promising advances in cancer research, there are considerable and even alarming gaps in the fundamental knowledge and understanding of ovarian cancer. Researchers now know that ovarian cancer is not a single disease–several distinct …

[more]

Sharing Science to Promote Discovery

Last week, an international team of scientists identified an impact crater in Greenland using data from NASA’s IceBridge Project. Our recent report, Open Science by Design, explores opportunities and challenges in making research freely available and usable. It’s free to download, along with the other related titles below.

Open Science by Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research

Openness and sharing of information are fundamental to the progress of science and to the effective functioning of the research enterprise. The advent of scientific journals in the 17th century helped power the Scientific Revolution by allowing …

[more]

The Future of Scientific Knowledge Discovery in Open Networked Environments: Summary of a Workshop

Digital technologies and networks are now part of everyday work in the sciences, and have enhanced access to and use of scientific data, information, and literature significantly. They offer the promise of accelerating the discovery and …

[more]

Sharing Clinical Research Data: Workshop Summary

Pharmaceutical companies, academic researchers, and government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health all possess large quantities of clinical research data. If these data were shared more widely …

[more]

The Case for International Sharing of Scientific Data: A Focus on Developing Countries: Proceedings of a Symposium

The theme of this international symposium is the promotion of greater sharing of scientific data for the benefit of research and broader development, particularly in the developing world. This is an extraordinarily important topic. Indeed, I have …

[more]

Principles and Obstacles for Sharing Data from Environmental Health Research: Workshop Summary

On March 19, 2014, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop on the topic of the sharing of data from environmental health research. Experts in the field of environmental health agree that there are benefits to …

[more]

Discussion Framework for Clinical Trial Data Sharing: Guiding Principles, Elements, and Activities

Sharing data generated through the conduct of clinical trials offers the promise of placing evidence about the safety and efficacy of therapies and clinical interventions on a firmer basis and enhancing the benefits of clinical trials. …

[more]

Using Data Sharing to Improve Coordination in Peacebuilding: Report of a Workshop by the National Academy of Engineering and United States Institute of Peace: Roundtable on Technology, Science, and Peacebuilding

On May 23, 2012, the Roundtable on Technology, Science, and Peacebuilding convened a workshop at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) to investigate data sharing as a means of improving coordination among US government and nongovernment …

[more]

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age

As digital technologies are expanding the power and reach of research, they are also raising complex issues. These include complications in ensuring the validity of research data; standards that do not keep pace with the high rate of innovation; …

[more]

Take 5: Top Books on Higher Education

Got educators on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation

Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads

In order for the United States to maintain the global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals, we must invest in research, encourage innovation, and grow a strong and talented science and…
Details

Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty

Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty

Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Facultypresents new and surprising findings about career differences between female and male full-time, tenure-track, and tenured faculty in science,…Details

On Being a Scientist

On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research: Third Edition

The scientific research enterprise is built on a foundation of trust. Scientists trust that the results reported by others are valid. Society trusts that the results of research reflect an honest attempt by scientists to describe the world accurately and…
Details

Managing University Intellectual Property in the Public Interest

Managing University Intellectual Property in the Public Interest

Thirty years ago federal policy underwent a major change through the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which fostered greater uniformity in the way research agencies treat inventions arising from the work they sponsor. Before the Act, if government agencies funded…
Details

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age

As digital technologies are expanding the power and reach of research, they are also raising complex issues. These include complications in ensuring the validity of research data; standards that do not keep pace with the high rate of innovation; restrictions…
Details

Take 5: Top 5 Books on Science and Technology

The scientists and engineers on your list may not always be the easiest people to shop for during the holidays. It should come as no surprise that we have recommendations. Take five and finish your holiday shopping with our most-recommended books for the scientifically-minded.

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age

As digital technologies are expanding the power and reach of research, they are also raising complex issues. These include complications in ensuring the validity of research data; standards that do not keep pace with the high rate of innovation; restrictions…
Details

Science and Decisions Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment

Risk assessment has become a dominant public policy tool for making choices, based on limited resources, to protect public health and the environment. It has been instrumental to the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other…
Details

Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities

The United States is increasingly dependent on information and information technology for both civilian and military purposes, as are many other nations.  Although there is a substantial literature on the potential impact of a cyberattack on the societal…
Details

Rising Above the Gathering Storm Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future

In a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S….
Details

Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward

Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often…
Details

New Books This Week: Data Integrity, Counterterrorism, The Biology Revolution and More

Friday brings us to the close of the week and the usual recap of what’s fresh and new here at nap.edu. Next week’s post may be a little delayed by the Thanksgiving holiday, but if there’s new stuff, we’ll be sure you know.

Featured New Book

Experimentation and Rapid Prototyping in Support of Counterterrorism (final)


The U.S. military forces currently face a nontraditional threat from insurgents and terrorists who primarily employ improvised explosive devices, and have shown a cycle of adaptation of less than 12 months to responses by U.S. forces to counter these attacks. This constantly evolving threat requires U.S. military forces to adapt and respond more rapidly with modified tactics, technologies, and/or equipment.

In response to this need for new technologies, the Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO) was established in 2006 to develop technologies that can mature in 6 to 18 months for purposes of counterterrorism. Although RRTO appears to be successfully fulfilling its mission, the agency seeks to understand and address barriers to and opportunities for meeting future counterterrorism needs–including the need to accelerate the transition of technologies for counterterrorism with an eye to countering emerging and anticipated threats. This book reviews RRTO approaches and provides a set of recommendations for potential improvements to help meet these needs for rapid technology development.

All New Books This Week

Disposal of Legacy Nerve Agent GA and Lewisite Stocks at Deseret Chemical Depot: Letter Report  (final)

Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences (prepublication)

Landscapes on the Edge: New Horizons for Research on Earth’s Surface (prepublication)

Crisis Standards of Care: Summary of a Workshop Series (prepublication)

Review of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Corrosion Prevention Standards for Ductile Iron Pipe (final)

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age (final)

Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008 (final)

A New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution (final)

Biographical Memoirs: V. 91