The landscape of data-related research
RESEARCH SYNTHESIS
ODI Evidence & Foresight
Last updated: April 2022
This annotated slide deck has been researched and produced by the Open Data Institute (ODI), and published in early 2022.
It is a summary of a longer research report. For further information about the project, our methodology and our findings, read the full report here.
The speaker’s notes contain further information and context.
This document is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC-BY-SA).��The research project team members were: Jared Robert Keller, Sara Marcucci, Joe Massey, Fionntán O’Donnell, Annalisa Eichholzer and Olivier Thereaux. ODI contributions from Caley Dewhurst, and Becky Ghani.
To share feedback by email or to get in touch, contact the Evidence & Foresight programme at, research.team@theodi.org
LANDSCAPE REVIEW OF DATA-RELATED RESEARCH
| If you would like to send us feedback, �please get in touch by email at research@theodi.org. |
Contents
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Introducing �‘data-related �research’
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research about data is everywhere…
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1: Introducing ‘data-related research’
Over the past few decades, data has gained increasing importance and relevance in seemingly all social, economic and political contexts.
Because of this, research about data, its value, management, uses and impacts - what we call 'data-related research' - is being conducted in a wide range of areas.
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This research is conducted in unexpected places and ways
research about data is everywhere…
1: Introducing ‘data-related research’
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And yet, despite the widespread importance of data in so many diverse parts of life - or perhaps because of its widespread importance - it is extremely difficult to gain a comprehensive view of all the research, writing and communication about data and data-related topics out there.
research about data is everywhere…
1: Introducing ‘data-related research’
…which presents multiple challenges
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For researchers
It can be difficult to identify relevant research and findings in adjacent areas of enquiry, which can in turn make it difficult to build on previous work, collaborate on shared interests, or coordinate to avoid duplicated effort.
1: Introducing ‘data-related research’
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For users of this research
It can be difficult to locate the findings, insights and evidence that are relevant to their circumstances and needs.
1: Introducing ‘data-related research’
…which presents multiple challenges
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For funders and supporters of data-related research
It can be difficult to spot peaks and troughs of funding, identify under-examined areas or coordinate with others to produce the greatest impact.
1: Introducing ‘data-related research’
…which presents multiple challenges
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To help address some of these challenges, we set ourselves the goal of producing a high-level overview of funding and research related to data, its value, management, uses and impacts.
This is not the final step, but the first. We will continue working to map this emerging landscape and welcome help from like-minded people and organisations.
1: Introducing ‘data-related research’
…which presents multiple challenges
Sketching the landscape of data-related research
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Is there an emerging field of data-related research?
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Our interviews with 19 people – from 13 different funding organisations – found broad agreement that there is a burgeoning field of research related to data, its value, management, uses and impacts.
There does not yet seem to be a specific definition of the field, however, and there was less agreement about which topics, disciplines and methods are included within it.
"The field of data-related research is still a very young field. But it's starting to take shape in terms of a growing body of research, emerging definitions and researchers affiliated with it as well as frameworks and approaches that are becoming more widely used.”
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
(Participant B, philanthropic funder)
Is the field fragmented and what challenges does this present?
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Based on our interviews, the field is still highly fragmented, with much relevant research siloed in disparate parts of the landscape.
This can make it difficult to gather relevant knowledge, skills and expertise and conduct the type of multidisciplinary work that is often required in this space.
2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
“This is a huge area and involves multiple expertise, from statistics, computational science, mathematics, software engineering, data engineering, data stewardship, I mean, it's vast, [...] it's a lot of different skills that you need to support. It's hugely multidisciplinary [...]. So on top of the discipline skills that you have to have, you have to support a variety of other skills.”
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
(Participant G, UK research council)
Analysing and quantifying the data-related landscape
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Building on the findings from our interviews, we drew on scientometric and bibliometric analysis methods to attempt to answer five questions:
2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Analysing and quantifying the data-related landscape
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For our initial search, we selected 10 data-related keywords from the ODI’s report ‘Data 2020’
2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
How dispersed is the field of data-related research?
View the interactive diagram of the field of data-related research based on the Lens dataset (2020-2022).
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Who is funding data-related research?
The top 10 funders of data-related research in the 360Giving dataset (2012-2022).
The full table can be found in our research report on Livemark.
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Funders | Total amount awarded | Total grants |
The Wellcome Trust | £18,040,829 | 40 |
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy | £7,435,773 | 14 |
Cabinet Office | £2,409,375 | 1 |
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation | £650,000 | 2 |
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport | £550,000 | 1 |
Nuffield Foundation | £339,157 | 1 |
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust | £178,350 | 2 |
Indigo Trust | £51,926 | 2 |
Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust | £32,084 | 1 |
Barrow Cadbury Trust | £29,000 | 1 |
Who is funding data-related research?
The top eight funders of data-related research in the Gateway to Research dataset (2020-2022).
The full table can be found in our research report on Livemark.
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Funders | Total amount awarded | Total grants |
Innovate UK | £29,162,355 | 24 |
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | £27,778,192 | 23 |
Economic and Social Research Council | £14,790,918 | 12 |
Medical Research Council | £9,211,246 | 8 |
UK Research and Innovation | £2,007,222 | 3 |
Natural Environment Research Council | £1,880,022 | 1 |
Arts and Humanities Research Council | £1,093,196 | 5 |
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council | £332,068 | 2 |
How much funding is being directed at the 10 keywords from ‘Data 2020’?
The funding for our 10 data-related keywords in the 360Giving dataset (2012-2022).
The full table can be found in our research report on Livemark.
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Keyword | Total amount awarded | Total grants | Average grant amount |
Data ethics | £49,257.00 | 1 | £49,257.00 |
Data literacy | £407,199.00 | 5 | £81,439.80 |
Data rights | £32,084.00 | 1 | £32,084.00 |
Data sharing | £22,381,082.10 | 48 | £466,272.54 |
Digital economy | £5,096,545.94 | 9 | £566,282.88 |
Misinformation | £588,360.20 | 5 | £117,672.04 |
Value of data | £1,215,757.00 | 3 | £405,252.33 |
Who is conducting data-related research?
The top 10 recipients of funding in the 360Giving dataset (2012-2022).
The full table can be found in our research report on Livemark.
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Recipient organisation | Number of grants received | Total amount awarded |
University of Oxford | 10 | £6,513,878 |
European Bioinformatics Institute | 2 | £2,815,112 |
King's College London | 2 | £2,712,590 |
Greater London Authority | 1 | £2,409,375 |
Newcastle University | 2 | £1,816,935 |
University of Warwick | 2 | £1,285,791 |
University of Dundee | 1 | £1,282,716 |
University of Liverpool | 1 | £1,192,228 |
EMBL - European Bioinformatics Institute | 1 | £1,000,000 |
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine | 1 | £970,813 |
Who is conducting data-related research?
The top 10 recipients of funding in the Gateway to Research dataset (2020-2022).
The full table can be found in our research report on Livemark.
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Recipient | Total amount awarded | Total number of grants |
University of Edinburgh | £33,184,917 | 7 |
City, University of London | £7,178,672 | 2 |
University of Bristol | £6,972,599 | 2 |
University of Nottingham | £4,075,505 | 2 |
Lancaster University | £3,827,382 | 2 |
University of Surrey | £3,816,713 | 1 |
Newcastle University | £3,797,252 | 1 |
The Alan Turing Institute | £3,166,200 | 1 |
The Scottish Government | £2,117,000 | 1 |
University of Dundee | £2,032,574 | 1 |
What are the top articles for data-related research in the Lens?
The top five articles in the Lens dataset (2020-2022).
The full table can be found in our research report on Livemark.
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Title | Keyword | Total citations |
COVID-19 and the 5G Conspiracy Theory: Social Network Analysis of Twitter Data. | Misinformation | 272 |
Health-protective behaviour, social media usage and conspiracy belief during the COVID-19 public health emergency. | Misinformation | 247 |
Exposure to untrustworthy websites in the 2016 US election. | Misinformation | 118 |
Data sharing and outbreaks: best practice exemplified. | Data sharing | 89 |
Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online. | Misinformation | 66 |
Reading lists for each of our ten data-related keywords (2020-2022), by number of citations
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
What are the top ‘fields of study’ within data-related research?
The top 10 Microsoft Academic Graph ‘fields of study’ in the Lens dataset (2020-2022).
The full table can be found in our research report on Livemark.
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2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Field of study | Count |
Data sharing | 269 |
Computer science | 221 |
Social media | 87 |
Internet privacy | 87 |
Data science | 68 |
Digital economy | 63 |
Big data | 44 |
Artificial intelligence | 42 |
Data collection | 30 |
Computer security | 30 |
Cryptography | 29 |
Interoperability | 28 |
Data Protection Act 1998 | 28 |
Machine learning | 26 |
Software | 24 |
The value of this research
Although these are only initial results, we believe they demonstrate the value of this type of research.
It is indeed possible to map parts of the landscape of data-related research
With further work, it should be possible to provide a more detailed overview of funding and research related to data, its value, management, uses and impacts.
2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
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The value of this research
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Researchers can use these tables and datasets to:
2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
The value of this research
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Potential users of data-related research can use these tables and datasets to:
2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
The value of this research
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Funders and supporters of data-related research can use these tables and datasets to:
2: Sketching the landscape of data-related research
Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
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Gaps in the evidence base and how to fill them
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3: Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
It is important to note that these results are based on a small section of the entire landscape of data-related research, in large part because there are major gaps in the evidence base.
As long as these gaps remain unfilled, it will only be able to map parts of the data-related research landscape – a comprehensive view of the field will remain out of reach.
Gap #1: Non-academic ‘grey literature’
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One large gap in the evidence base is related to research outside of academia and published outside peer-reviewed journals.
The systems that track research are primarily focused on peer-reviewed academic research and do not tend to capture ‘grey literature’ produced by third sector research bodies, industrial firms, government agencies, consultancies or the media.
3: Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
Gap #1: Non-academic ‘grey literature’
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This is a problem because a lot of thought leadership, innovation and agenda-setting happens outside of academia.
In the coming years we intend to explore ways of working in collaboration with academic and non-academic organisations to connect these two parts of the landscape of data-related research.
3: Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
Gap #2: Open research and open science
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Another gap that needs to be addressed is related to open research and open science.
Many of the largest and best-curated databases for tracking funding and research, such as Web of Science and Scopus exist behind paywalls.
3: Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
Gap #2: Open research and open science
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This is a problem because for many people and smaller research organisations, these costs are prohibitive.
Supporting openly accessible databases like the Lens and OpenAlex should increase access to this important data.
We would also like to see more paid databases offering services like the one run by Dimensions which provides free access to for non-commercial scientometric research.
3: Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
Gap #3: Open and standardised funding information
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A third major gap in the evidence base is related to funding and grants information.
There is only limited information about funding and grants contained within the databases that exist to track funding and research, and this is true of paid and open databases.
3: Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
Gap #3: Open and standardised funding information
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This is a problem because it potentially leads to blind spots for funders and researchers and duplication of effort.
More widespread adoption of things like the 360Giving Data Standard by funders would help to fill in some of these gaps, as would greater commitment by researchers and research organisations to include funding details in their publications.
3: Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
Where we’re headed next
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The Evidence & Foresight programme of the ODI will continue working to map the emerging field of data-related research and help fill in the gaps in the evidence base.
Over the next year, we will be working to convene interested people and organisations to better understand the challenges and co-develop strategies to address them.
3: Spotlighting gaps and outlining future work
We welcome any and all help on this journey.
Let us know if you are interested in joining us.
Thank you
Get in touch
If you would like to talk to us about collaborating, partnering or supporting our work, please get in touch.
research@theodi.org
@ODIHQ