figshare and IOP Publishing work on data sharing pilot

IOP Publishing and figshare are working together on a pilot project to help authors share figures and data from IOP’s journals more easily.

The pilot aims to help authors increase the visibility of their research. It will also enable IOP to explore solutions to questions surrounding open data using existing cloud-based technology. Two of IOP’s journals, Environmental Research Letters and Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, will take part in the initial trial.

Figures and data from both publications will automatically be added onto the figshare repository during the trial. The partners say that this will enable researchers to link published information with unpublished supporting material in a citable way, thereby creating a holistic view of their research. It also helps researchers to add/view metrics that will help them understand the true influence and reach of their work.

Nicola Gulley, editorial director of IOP Publishing commented: 'The pilot helps our authors promote the visual aspects of their research by taking images from articles and uploading them into figshare for everyone to use. The collaboration with figshare is one of a range of solutions that we are exploring to answer the big questions surrounding open data.'

Mark Hahnel, founder of figshare, added: 'We’re really excited to be working with IOP on this project. It’s fantastic to see such an established publisher focus on some of the more forward-thinking approaches to disseminating academic content. We’re looking forward to further development of these ideas with the team at IOP.'