Research data should be available long-term...but who is going to pay?

There is now a broad consensus that sharing and preserving data makes research more efficient, reproducible and potentially innovative. As such, most funding bodies now require research data to be stored, preserved, and made available long-term. But who is going to pay for this to happen? Marta Teperek and Alastair Dunning outline how the costs of long-term data preservation are not eligible for inclusion as part of any funding body’s grants. Neither is it currently realistic for these costs to be absorbed by research institutions. With discussions between funding bodies and institutions yet to bear fruit, perhaps it is time for joined-up national (or international) efforts on data preservation.