A sub-issue of my concern regarding the study of Ebberling (2006) is their refusal to share data. While we can all think of occasions when there may be good grounds to say no, such as when there is a risk of breaching confidentiality or before the researchers themselves have had time to present their findings, in most cases this would not be the case. And we can all think of good reasons to encourage data sharing. Vogeli (2006) noted that Robert Merton called data sharing "a fundamental norm of the academic scientific enterprise". In fact, refusing to share data without reasonable cause can itself be a sign that the experimenters may be trying to hide something.
Consequently, I've complained to _Pediatrics_ without (at this point, anyway) naming the authors in question. I received a response which suggests that they are taking my complaint seriously, and are consulting at an impressively high level on the issue. In the meantime, with Miguel's helpful post, I've started compiling a list of organizations which encourage or require data sharing. The list stands as follows: American Psychological Association (see the style guide) National Institutes of Health (USA) National Science Foundation (USA) National Human Genome Research Institute (USA) Animal cognition researchers of the Society for Psychological Science (APS) So far, I can't find anything which indicates an official position of the APS itself, nor the Canadian Psychological Association. Vogelli, C. et al (2006). Data withholding and the next generation of scientists: Results of a national survey. Academic Medicine, 81, 128-- [see also their accompanying paper Blumenthal, D. et al (2006). Data withholding in genetics and the other life sciences Prevalences and predictors., p., 137--] Stephen ______________________________ Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Bishop's University Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dept web page: www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at: faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm ______________________________________ --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
