In the scientific process, errors are inevitable. However, academic science often lacks a constructive approach to handling them, particularly in the context of data sharing. The fear of stigmatization when errors are uncovered—whether through peer review, replication, or after data sharing—often deters researchers from embracing transparency. This fear undermines the adoption of open science practices and impedes the advancement of reliable, reproducible science. We therefore argue that merely providing tools and services for the correction of errors is insufficient; instead we need a paradigm shift towards a positive error culture in academia.
This workshop addresses these challenges by focusing on concrete actions that can foster a constructive error culture in the research community, particularly through enhanced research data management (RDM) infrastructure. Our aim is to shift the narrative from penalizing error detection to using errors as opportunities for learning and improvement.
Sharing Experiences and Identifying Barriers: Participants will openly discuss the challenges and fears that prevent data sharing, particularly when errors are detected. These discussions will include personal experiences with existing RDM infrastructure, focusing on identifying what works, what doesn’t, and where gaps remain. By sharing these insights, we can better understand what stops researchers from embracing transparency and develop strategies to overcome these barriers. This collection will be documented using an online whiteboard.
Evaluating Existing Infrastructures: We will examine infrastructures currently supporting data sharing (such as those developed within the Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) in Germany as well as other platforms) and discuss how they help or hinder a constructive error culture. What infrastructure elements foster transparency, and where do they fall short? This dialogue will provide an opportunity to assess what is needed to go one step forward towards an improved and more constructive error culture in science.
This workshop will place a seed to (re-)evaluate error culture in science with an emphasis on overcoming barriers to data sharing. The content of the workshop is among other sources based in this preprint by the same authors: Frank, M., Hesselmann, F., Jolliffe, J., Miller, B., Vosskuhl, J., & Zänkert, S. (2024, September 13). Error Needs Culture! Advancing Data Sharing by Acknowledging Mistakes. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/kruhn
This event is part of the Data Days Niedersachsen - Day 2. An overview of the entire program can be found here:
The Data Days Niedersachsen are organized by the State Initiative Research Data Management Lower Saxony (FDM-NDS). FDM-NDS is a collaborative project under the umbrella of Hochschule.digital Niedersachsen and is funded as part of zukunft.niedersachsen, a funding program from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) and VolkswagenStiftung.
