Research data policy: a library and information science publishers’ perspective

The purpose of this study was to analyse the extent to which Library and Information Science (LIS) publishers employ research data policies. Since the research data policy landscape is too complex amidst the varied publishers, authors attempted to analyse LIS publishers retrieved from the ISI Web of Science in compliance with 12 research data policy features identified from the literature for uniformity in the analysis. The study examined the information provided on the websites of LIS publishers to describe the common and distinct features of their research data policies. Apart from the common features identified in the literature, the authors found numerous distinct research data policy features of publishers, such as deposition of data sets, division of research data policy types, and sharing of research code. Furthermore, institutional publishers with research data policies have more rigid features for the execution of research data policy features since their beneficiaries are uniform, in contrast to the varied nature of journals’ and publishers’ authors. This is an in-depth study of the research data policy features of 12 publishers contributing to LIS. The study will give funders, institutions, publishers, journals, and other functionaries insight into the need for research data policies.