Wellcome and ripeta partner to assess dataset availability in funded research
8 September 2020 – Ripeta and Wellcome are pleased to announce a collaborative effort to assess data and code availability in the manuscripts of funded research projects.
The project will analyze papers funded by Wellcome from the year prior to it establishing a dedicated Open Research team (2016) and from the most recent calendar year (2019). It supports Wellcome’s commitment to maximising the availability and re-use of results from its funded research.
Ripeta, a Digital Science portfolio company, aims to make better science easier by identifying and highlighting the important parts of research that should be transparently presented in a manuscript and other materials.
The collaboration will leverage ripeta’s natural language processing (NLP) technology, which scans articles for reproducibility criteria. For both data availability and code availability, the NLP will produce a binary yes-no response for the presence of availability statements. Those with a “yes” response will then be categorized by the way that data or code are shared.
Leslie McIntosh, ripeta CEO, said: “Wellcome has been a leading funder in supporting research transparency through open data sharing and open access to publications. This exciting opportunity offers a window into how their policy changes affect practice.”
Wellcome sees the collaboration as a way to enhance the work it already sought to do. David Carr, Programme Manager for Open Research at Wellcome said: “The availability of data and code underlying published research findings is a critical element in ensuring the research can be properly scrutinized, replicated and built upon. This collaboration gives Wellcome the information it needs to push forward on its commitment to more robustly report research outcomes.”
Notes to editors
About Ripeta
Ripeta, LLC is a technology company that has developed tools and services to rapidly assess the responsible reporting of research. Similar to a financial credit report, which shows the fiscal health of a person, ripeta shows the reproducibility hygiene of the scientific paper. The ripeta suite identifies and extracts the key components of full research reporting, thereby drastically shortening and improving the publication process; furthermore, the extraction component of Ripeta’s process makes the methods easily discoverable for future reuse. Ripeta’s portfolio of services and tools includes an API, individual manuscript reports, aggregated reports, consultations, and rankings. Learn more at ripeta.com.
Digital Science is a technology company working to make research more efficient. We invest in, nurture and support innovative businesses and technologies that make all parts of the research process more open and effective. Our portfolio includes admired brands including Altmetric, CC Grant Tracker, Dimensions, figshare, Gigantum, ReadCube, Symplectic, IFI Claims, GRID, Overleaf, ripeta and Writefull. We believe that together, we can help researchers make a difference. Visit www.digital-science.com and follow @digitalsci on Twitter.
About the Wellcome Trust
Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. We support researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health research. We are a politically and financially independent foundation.
