The Challenges of Data Publishing: An AAS Journals Perspective

Significant quantities of digital data are produced routinely in the pursuit of scientific exploration and much of it ends up in the scholarly record in the form of figures and tables. For over a decade, the AAS Journals have been developing methods to obtain these valuable data sets, particularly tabular data. We are currently working on expand the scope of our data collecting activities primarily by focusing on the data behind published figures. In collaboration with our publisher, the IOP, numerous collaborator institutions and a grant from the NSF we have begun the process by 1) understanding the nature of the data behind figures already published, 2) establishing the best practices for archiving and preserving the data, 3) creating optimal data presentations within the confines of publishing, 4) facilitating the discoverability of these data products within the framework of the larger VO initiative, and 5) encouraging authors to make their data available when they publish. I outline some of our findings and preview the challenges in the next stages of the project.