The OpenUP pilot study on research data sharing in Social Science

The report presents the results of a pilot study carried out within the European project OpenUP (Opening up new methods, indicators and tools for peer review, dissemination of research results and impact measurement). The pilot aimed at identifying strong and weak elements in the process of dataset review and validation and intended to outline best practices that facilitate transparency of the process as well as data dissemination, reliability and reuse. In particular the report reviews data sharing and evaluation practices in Social sciences, on which the selection of the pilot community is based, and reports on the interviews with the management team of the selected community, i.e. Human Mortality Database (HMD) as well as on a questionnaire submitted to HMD users. Lessons learned that can help identifying requisites and best practices for peer review of research data are reported in the conclusions.