08/06/2018
Supporting Data Sharing Relevant to the Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Some GloPID-R members have signed a joint declaration lead by the Wellcome Trust on data sharing relevant to the 2018 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Other GloPID-R member signatories include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Commission, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), South African Medical Research Council, along with leading academic journals including International Journal of Infectious Disease, The Lancet Group, and ProMED.
The statement is intended to ensure that any information that might have value in combatting the Ebola and all outbreaks is made available to the international community, free of charge, as soon as is feasibly possible.
Additionally, the statement asks funders to require researchers to develop the capacity to share data rapidly and broadly with the scientific community as well as the World Health Organization. This statement reinforces the commitment made from the 2016 joint statement on data sharing on Zika and future public health emergencies.
This declaration is based on an action consensus statement arising from a WHO consultation in September 2015, in which leading international stakeholders from multiple sectors affirmed that timely and transparent pre-publication sharing of data and results during public health emergencies must become the global norm.
Statement on Sharing research findings and data relevant to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC
We therefore call on the signatories of that statement, and on other funding bodies, journals and research organisations, to adopt the approach set out in this statement, namely that:
- journals make all content relevant to the outbreak free to access, and ensure any data or pre-print shared ahead of submission of a research article will not pre-empt its publication in these journals
- funders require researchers undertaking work relevant to the outbreak to set in place mechanisms to share quality-assured interim and final data as rapidly and widely as possible, including with public health and research communities, and the World Health Organization.
We strongly encourage our funded researchers to use Wellcome Open Research (opens in a new tab) or other open research publishing platforms as a mechanism to rapidly and openly publish research findings, protocols and other outputs, or to use pre-prints to share research findings ahead of journal submission.
We will continue to work through the GloPID-R Data Sharing Working Group (opens in a new tab) to understand and implement best policies and practice around data sharing in public health emergencies.
Signatories to the Statement
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- EcoHealth Alliance
- eLife
- F1000
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz)
- The Global Health Network
- International Journal of Infectious Disease
- International Society for Infectious Diseases
- The Lancet Group
- Microbide Limited
- National Academy of Medicine
- PLOS
- ProMED
- South African Medical Research Council
For further information
Katherine Littler
Wellcome Trust
Phone: +44 (0)207 611 8446
Email: k.littler@wellcome.ac.uk
Article credit: Wellcome Trust