The Limits of Sharing: An Ethical Analysis of the Arguments For and Against the Sharing of Databases and Material Banks

Abstract

In this article, I study the challenges that make database and material bank sharing difficult for many researchers. I assert that if sharing is prima facie ethical (a view that I will defend), then any practices that limit sharing require justification. I argue that: 1) data and material sharing is ethical for many stakeholders; 2) there are, however, certain reasonable limits to sharing; and 3) the rationale and validity of arguments for any limitations to sharing must be made transparent. I conclude by providing general recommendations for how to ethically share databases and material banks.

Keywords:

• databases
• limitations
• material banks
• sharing
• valorization

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Catherine Olivier, Michel Bergeron, and the VINCI research group for their help with the initial data collection and analysis. Moreover, I would like to thank Dr. Bryn Williams-Jones, Jim Smith, and the peer-reviewers for their extremely helpful comments on this manuscript. This research was supported by a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Masters Program) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), a scholarship from the Centre interuniversitaire sur la science et technologie (CIRST) at the Université de Québec à Montréal (UQAM), and a J. A. DeSève Scholarship from the Université de Montréal.

Notes

1. The types of sharing required may differ substantially. For example, for funding organizations, sharing by researchers is often required either during the research or after a certain period of time, and the sharing of study data and disclosure of sources of data/material with the funder is often required to promote transparency. Some funders (e.g., NIH, CIHR) and certain journals also promote sharing through Open Access publications.

2. For more detail on the different types of databases and material banks that present a valorization potential (which includes a sharing potential) and a detailed discussion of the empirical VINCI study, see Olivier and Smith (2010).

3. For more information on research integrity linked to the promotion of sharing as an ethical norm in academia, see Shamoo and Resnik (2009) and Resnik (2006)