This issue marks the launch of an undertaking by The International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR) to solicit and publish a new genre of journal paper: a “data paper”. Our prime goal is to facilitate and encourage the release of high-quality, peer-reviewed datasets to the robotics community. ... We recognize that acquiring high-calibre data is a substantial technical endeavour and one that need not be undertaken by every researcher. Indeed, the time and financial cost of experimental data capture can at worst be a barrier to entry and commonly slows algorithmic development. We wish to make it easier for authors to present original contributions and evaluate performance by processing established datasets. This, we hope, will have a twofold benefit to authors: first, there is no overhead in collecting experimental data; and second, it facilitates a direct comparison with work published previously. Beyond altruism, we are keen to provide a sufficient motivation for authors to release excellent, often hard-earned, experimental data. IJRR data papers will be treated in the same fashion as regular papers, undergoing the standard peer-review process and appearing in print in regular journal issues, and authors should expect their data papers to be cited just as regular papers are.
The content of a data paper will of course be markedly different from a regular paper, not least because they are expected to be short affairs. Rather than standing alone, they should be considered as a companion to a website that will host the data and associated access tools. A data paper should provide a crisp statement of how the data was collected and a summary of its salient properties and intended audience. ... [W]e stress that authors are encouraged to focus not on processing the data itself but on easing access to it to ensure its widespread adoption. Note also that data paper authors will retain the copyright and ownership of their data.
It is the intent of IJRR to solicit archival quality data, which means the provision of an archival service to authors. This will be an ongoing process, and while we aim ultimately to host all datasets and their supporting websites, it is anticipated that initially many data papers will refer to websites hosted author-managed. ...
This issue sees the publication of two data papers. ... The websites accompanying these papers are replete with access tools (with usage examples), showcase videos, taster sample sets, documentation and, of course, the free-to-access data itself. ...
Comments.
The journal as a whole is TA. Both the editorial and the announcement are ambiguous as to whether the datasets categorically will be OA. (Both published examples so far are.)
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
