Data by experience: A survey investigating differences in data citation practices according to researchers’ career stages

Abstract Data citation and reuse are complex practices. While much research has examined the effect of disciplinary norms on data citation and reuse, much less work has examined the impact of career stages. In this paper, we present the results of a survey (n = 2,492) to explicitly investigate data citation practices, preferences, and motivations for indicating data reuse, using a sample of corresponding authors by career stage. We present findings about these researchers’ current practices and motivations for reusing and citing data and also examine their preferences for how they would like their own data to be cited. We find that researchers of various career stages have similar views and behaviors towards data sharing and reuse, with some key differences including the following points: 1) most sharing and reuse patterns with differences increased or decreased consistently along with career progression; 2) early career researchers place more importance on metrics about data created by others while 3) middle career researchers place more importance on metrics for their own data. Additionally, we discuss the unique qualities within each career stage, and present a future outlook on how research on this topic can be carried forward. Peer Review https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway/wos/peer-review/10.1162/QSS.a.483