Perceptions and behavior of clinical researchers and research support staff regarding data FAIRification

Abstract

The FAIR Data Principles are being rapidly adopted by many research institutes and funders worldwide. This study aimed to assess the awareness and attitudes of clinical researchers and research support staff regarding data FAIRification. A questionnaire was distributed to researchers and support staff in six Dutch University Medical Centers and Electronic Data Capture platform users. 164 researchers and 21 support staff members completed the questionnaire. 62.8% of the researchers and 81.0% of the support staff are currently undertaking at least some effort to achieve any aspect of FAIR, 11.0% and 23.8%, respectively, address all aspects. Only 46.6% of the researchers add metadata to their datasets, 39.7% add metadata to data elements, and 35.9% deposit their data in a repository. 94.7% of the researchers are aware of the usefulness of their data being FAIR for others and 89.3% are, given the right resources and support, willing to FAIRify their data. Institutions and funders should, therefore, develop FAIRification training and tools and should (financially) support researchers and staff throughout the process.