How Data and Publishing Intersect for Public Health Researchers

Abstract

We conducted a needs assessment of public health researchers November 2016 - January 2017. The aims of the study were to capture the evolving needs, opportunities, and challenges of public health researchers in the current environment and provide actionable recommendations. Participants (N=24), whose interests ranged from statistics to social sciences, were recruited through convenience sampling, and qualitative analyses were conducted using NVivo 11 Pro. Six themes emerged - two focused on data management and publishing. Overall, data management was an afterthought for participants; most named at least one aspect that was significant to them, but they did not grasp the breadth of data management or its long-term importance. This lead to frustration with data sharing mandates, as they were unprepared when it came time to submit the data to a repository. Participants also had a preference for publishing articles via traditional methods; simultaneously, they placed a high value on disseminating their research findings beyond articles and did so via multiple avenues, including presentations, webinars, white papers, stakeholder reports, and code sharing. They expressed interest in new ways of disseminating their work which included data sharing, social media, and data visualizations. This presentation will detail the intersection of these findings and outline strategies to mitigate challenges and support researchers in their dissemination of research data in the publication process.