To Give or Not to Give? That Is the Question
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: While Hamlet experienced “suffering caused by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…,” many modern day scientists have similar feelings when asked to give and share published data and materials with other members of our community. Herein, we argue that being on the side of the fence that advocates sharing freely published data and materials is an acceptable practice in the scientific community, an opinion based on our scientific journey over the past 40 years. One of us (A.T.) began as a plant physiologist when experimental plant systems were as many as the number of plant species, and the National Institutes of Health was calling on individual principal investigators to write three-page proposals to obtain funds for their favorite study. Plant physiology and biochemistry were the major disciplines of the time. Arabidopsis was known to very few of us, and genetics was practiced by the corn geneticists, a small group of scientists who freely exchanged their mutants published in their newsletter (Maize Genetics Cooperation, 1926–2004). Gene cloning and sequencing had not been discovered, and large community projects were unheard of. Rules regarding data sharing were not defined, and the prevailing mood was NOT TO GIVE. Even inside a laboratory or departmental corridor, the sharing of ideas and materials was limited. In the late 1970s, when cloning genes from peas, carrots, and avocadoes was possible, the plant physiologist found himself in the laboratory of R.W.D. at Stanford in the Department of Biochemistry (under the direction of Arthur Kornberg). Ideas, materials, protocols, space, and grants were shared among the approximately 100-member department, located in two corridors. It was a powerful and productive machine. Sharing was not restricted interdepartmentally but rather extended globally. Newly constructed cloning vectors, Escherichia coli strains, cDNA, and genomic libraries and detailed experimental protocols were sent to anyone around the globe that requested them, even before publication. It was in that atmosphere of giving where the plant physiologist began to appreciate the concept of sharing and giving for the advancement of the common good. The transition was gradual and now has come full circle to underscore the importance of sharing, giving, and producing tools to be used by others in the global scientific community.
Source: PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Authors: Athanasios Theologis, Ronald W. Davis
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1971559865