1. SSP, May 2014
Data publishing from the
AAS perspective
A bit of history
Our current point of view
Data sharing attitudes of astronomers
2. SSP, May 2014
American Astronomical Society
Largest organization of research
astronomers, 100+ yrs, 6500+ members
The Astronomical Journal, 150+ yrs, IF = 5.0
2013: 330 articles, 4375 pages
The Astrophysical Journal, 100+ yrs, IF = 6.7
Letters (IF = 6.3), Supplement (IF = 16.2)
2013: 3731 articles, 45150 pages
3. SSP, May 2014
AAS Heritage of Publishing Data
AAS founded the Astrophysical Journal Supplement
in 1954 to publish the “data-rich” papers of the day.
The move to electronic publishing (as the version of
record) ended the era of extensive typeset tables
AAS journals currently accept machine readable
tables, FITS format, movies, and other VO-
compatible formats.
5. SSP, May 2014
Long Tail of Science Data
DataVolume
Number of datasets
Large data sets at facility archives are well-tended
Moderate- to small-sized data sets are at risk
Graphic from B. Heidorn
6. SSP, May 2014
Long Tail of Science Data
DataVolume
Intellectual complexity?
Large data sets at facility archives are well-tended
Moderate- to small-sized data sets are at risk
Graphic from B. Heidorn
MAST
IRSA
CXC
SDSS
Journals,
CDS, et al.
7. SSP, May 2014
Data and linkages to data
Data in the journal
Data outside the journal
Link resources together: object names (SIMBAD),
data set names (ADS et al.)
Nurture partnerships with important partners
ADS, CDS, VO, et al.
DataCite: TIB, BL, CDL, et al.
CrossRef, Portico, other scholarly community
8. SSP, May 2014
MRTs in ApJ and ApJS
0
50
100
150
200
250
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
ApJ
ApJS
Data in the journal
Current AAS data formats
Machine readable
tables (MRTs)
Figure sets and
extended figures
Data behind figures
(DbF)
FITS files
Animations
Source code
10. SSP, May 2014
Understanding what we have
and what people want
Survey figure types in
the journals
AAS author survey as
part of a 2012 NSF
data grant
•.
11. SSP, May 2014
AAS/AIP data access project
1. Journals will extend the methods for providing access to
data objects
2. Survey community attitudes about data sharing and re-
use
3. Engage community in discussions about formats and
metadata
Responds to various calls for digital data curation and sharing
EC: Riding the Wave (2010)
UK/RIN: Collaborative Yet Independent (2011)
US NSB: Digital Research Data Sharing and Management
(2011)
12. SSP, May 2014
Data sharing/attitudes survey
Conducted by AIP SRC 12/12 – 1/13
With NSF support
~1000 respondents in astrophysics and
plasma physics (68% response)
Two main themes
Use: requests, receipts, re-use
Sharing: inquiries, deliveries
Recently (past 2 yrs) and future expectation
13. SSP, May 2014
Data sharing survey
62% shared in last two years
58% expect to share in next two years
Plus 28% who said “possibly”
60% have requested data in last two years
68% expect to request in next two years
Plus 23% who said “possibly”
Astronomers generally have no problems
with data sharing
14. SSP, May 2014
1) 60% have requested data in last two years
How data was obtained
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Directly from
author
Large data
repository
Publishing
Journal
Affiliated
institution
Other
%
How data was used
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Explore new
questions
Integrate
sources
Replicate work Other
%
2) 3)
AAS & AIP data sharing survey:
Highlights regarding using data
Rethink X axis in terms of “intellectual complexity” or intellectual investment
Tabular, image data in several formats
MRT/Vizier, VOT, FITS - Ad hoc submissions by authors, since 1993
E.g. 10.1086/512773 (MRT), 10.1086/382244 (FITS)
“Data behind the figures”
Simple plots: 1D & 2D, spectra, CM diagrams, etc., easy to serialize in tabular form - So we can apply current procedures