Global funders who require data archiving as a condition of grants

Open access and open data are becoming more prominent on the global research agenda. Funders are increasingly requiring grantees to deposit their raw research data in appropriate public archives or stores in order to facilitate the validation of results and further work by other researchers. While the rise of open access has fundamentally changed the academic publishing landscape, the policies around data are reigniting the conversation around what universities can and should be doing to protect the assets generated at their institution. The main difference between an open access and open data policy is that there is not already a precedent or status quo of how academia deals with the dissemination of research that is not in the form of a traditional ‘paper’ publication. As governments and funders of research see the benefit of open content, the creation of recommendations, mandates and enforcement of mandates are coming thick and fast.