Dados Abertos na Pesquisa em Ecologia

This study presents the results of the process of identifying, mapping, building and understanding the profile of Brazilian researchers in the area of Biological Sciences – Ecology – for Brazilian initiatives that aim for open access to research data. To achieve the answer to the problem and the objectives, the study adopted techniques from the persona construction methodology and the activity of identifying and mapping audiences in Public Relations, combined with the application of interviews examined based on content analysis. The results made it possible to identify the Persona Ecology (PE), an opinionated, conscious, loyal and vocal public. The PE has also configured itself as a stakeholder since it affects or is affected by open access initiatives to research data, and can be seen as an opportunity or threat depending on the occasion and the strategy of the promoters. It has interests in the services provided by the initiatives, is affected by them and is active in the practice of sharing and reusing ecological data. It is confirmed that the data produced in this context are heterogeneous and grow exponentially, and can be classified as observational, experimental and computational. However, they do not fully fit into the concept of open data, as they are not necessarily accessed and understood by anyone freely.