Byline: Jatinder. Singh
[SUPPORTING:1]
Scientific research activities generate a large amount of data, with most of it not ending up as part of a publication. Among the more common causes of this dilemma is a lack of significance, negative data or data that defy analysis. In numerous instances, even perfectly good data might not be able to withstand the gruelling process of peer review and is thus consigned to the record files.
Electronic publishing is silently but surely bringing about a change in the way in which a traditional publication and the process is perceived. The amalgamation of the semantic web, cloud computing and social media sites has begun to make a difference in the manner in which scientists communicate, gather data or share the triumphs and tribulations of their research. A number of dedicated blogs and specialized groups on popular media networks are actively working toward bridging the gap between how science is visualised and the way it works in the real world.
FigShare ( www.figshare.com ) is the brainchild of Mark Hahnel, who realised that a large amount of data generated during the course of his PhD would never get published as it did not show any significant difference. He also realised that redoing expensive research experiments and duplicating data could be drastically reduced by simply sharing this already generated data by putting it up in a proper format in a searchable database.
The website that has evolved to its present beta version is supported by Systems Institute, an international not-for-profit organization that provides hosting and looks after future expansion needs. Access to content is granted after free registration or an alternative login through one of the popular social media accounts. The facility to upload figures,...