Open Data in Social Sciences

This dataset accompanies the study titled “Open Data in Social Sciences: Growth, Impact, and Equity in Data Paper Publishing,” which presents the first large-scale empirical assessment of peer-reviewed data papers in the domain of social sciences. With the increasing emphasis on data transparency, FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles, and equitable research practices, this dataset provides a robust and replicable foundation for exploring how data papers are transforming scholarly communication, research impact, and global collaboration in the age of scientific crisis.
Drawing on a curated corpus of 3,957 peer-reviewed data papers indexed in Scopus, the dataset includes detailed bibliographic metadata, citation counts from major citation indices (Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Dimensions), and Altmetric attention scores reflecting societal engagement across platforms such as news media, policy documents, patents, and social media. The dataset further captures collaboration networks, institutional affiliations, funding acknowledgments, and journal-level compliance with FAIR and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics) principles.
The accompanying analytical materials include:
• Preprocessed datasets in CSV and Excel formats for reproducibility.
• Altmetric scores mapped to individual publications.
• Research collaboration network, co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling files generated using VOSviewer (Map and Network files).
• R Workspace file used for bibliometric analysis via the Bibliometrix R package.
• High-resolution PNG images of all figures and tables used in the publication.
Plotted data and analytical visualizations presented in the manuscript are also made available in this repository to enable full reproducibility of the findings and facilitate secondary analyses.
This dataset enables replication, extension, and methodological innovation in bibliometric, altmetric, and open science research. It is intended to support scholars, data librarians, research policymakers, and open science advocates in examining patterns of data publication, exploring citation and attention dynamics, and evaluating the role of funding and policy in shaping open data ecosystems. All materials are openly available for reuse under open access principles, promoting transparency, reproducibility, and inclusive participation in the data-driven transformation of the social sciences.
File Types Included:
• CSV (.csv): Scopus data
• Excel (.xlsx): Citation and Altmetric metrics
• Text (.txt): Network and co-citation files
• RData (.RData): Bibliometrix workspace
• Image (.png): Figures and tables