Replication Data for: Mapping the landscape of geospatial data citations

Abstract (paper) ABSTRACT Data citations, similar to article and other research citations, are important references to research data that underlie published research results. In support of open science directives, these citations must adhere to specific conventions in terms of consistency of both placement within an article, and the actual availability or access to research data. To better understand the level to which geospatial research data are currently cited, we undertook a study to analyse the rate of data citation within a set of data-intensive geospatial research articles.

After analysing 1717 scholarly articles published between 2015 and 2018, we found that very few, or 78 (5%), meaningfully cited primary or secondary geospatial data sources in the cited references section of the article. Even fewer researchers, only 25 or 1.5%, were found to have cited data using a DOI. Given the relatively low data citation rate, a focus on contributing factors including barriers to citing geospatial data is needed.

And while open sharing requirements for geospatial data may change over time, driving data citation as a result, understanding benchmarks for data citation for monitoring purposes is useful.