Journal Articles

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Browsing Journal Articles by Subject "Data sharing"

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    Factors that determine open data readiness among scholars: experience from selected universities in Tanzania
    (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2022) Buhomoli, Obadia Shadrack; Muneja, Paul Samwel
    Purpose – This study aims to investigate the factors determining the readiness for uptake of open data (OD) in Tanzania. Specifically, this study intended to answer the question that sought to find out the factors that influence the implementation of OD in universities under study in a view to aligning with recommended strategies for optimizing the use of data in the open science era. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a cross-sectional survey design whereby data were collected using quantitative and qualitative research approaches. A sample size of 212 respondents was drawn from the sampling frame of a population of 1,846 researchers from the participating universities using both probability and nonprobability sampling techniques. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from researchers while interviews were administered to decision-makers. These two groups were believed to have the necessary knowledge for this study.The findings indicate low or lack of skills and awareness on issues related to OD among researchers and decision-makers. This study also reveals inadequate infrastructure to support open science initiatives including OD. Moreover, this study shows a lack of supportive institutional strategies and policies that trigger the implementation of OD initiatives in Tanzania. This study recommends that universities should uplift the level of confidence of researchers by ensuring all necessary factors determining the uptake of OD are in place before and during the implementation of OD initiatives. Research limitations/implications – This study was conducted during the time when researchers in universities are in an infant stage of adopting the concept from the developed world. In this regard, it is important to carry out a tracer study on establishing the OD phenomena after a number of universities have implemented OD initiatives in the country. The researchers recommend the establishment of institutional policy and strategies to guide the implementation of OD among universities in Tanzania. Including awareness creation awareness through providing training among researchers and academics in universities. The results shed light to decision-makers on the understanding of the role of sharing research data in enhancing openness and validation of findings to increase the authenticity of results among researchers.The authors have revealed the factors affecting the implementation of OD among scholars in universities. This study reveals the level of acceptance of OD initiatives and the factors that could trigger adoption of OD.This paper presents factors that determine the readiness for the uptake of OD in universities in Tanzania from the researcher’s perspective. This study was conducted to fill the knowledge gap that sought to establish understanding of researchers about OD. The gap was established through literature and it was found that none of the presented studies researched on this phenomenon in Tanzania.
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    Research data sharing: Practices and perceptions of researchers at the selected universities in Tanzania
    (SAGE Publications, 2023) Buhomoli, Obadia Shadrack; Muneja, Paul S.
    Despite the presence of multiple platforms for research data sharing such as data repositories, journal systems, social media, and portable devices, the practice of data sharing has not well been deployed in many universities in Africa including Tanzania. Therefore, this study investigated research data sharing at the selected universities in Tanzania. Specifically, the study sought to explore the research data sharing practices as well as determine the researchers’ perceptions of research data sharing. This study used a cross-section survey design, where both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. A sample size of 200 was drawn from a population of 1846 of the universities under study. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from researchers while interviews were used to collect data from the university leaders. The findings indicate that researchers were practicing research data sharing in the surveyed institutions at different levels. The study has also revealed that researchers were mostly practicing sharing of research data within their research groups. Further, it was found that most of the respondents were willing to use others’ research data compared to their data sets being used by others. Moreover, the academic backgrounds of the researchers were significantly important in research data-sharing practices. The study also found that researchers perceived that sharing of research data could easily be done if researchers would benefit from sharing the research data or if researchers would be forced to share their research data. The study concludes that, researchers at the surveyed institutions have been practicing research data sharing although at the minimum level. The study recommends the establishment of research data-sharing national framework that can guide all entities and activities related to research data sharing.