{"doi":"10.12688/f1000research.21884.1","title":"The impact of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute data: analyzing published articles that used BioLINCC open access data","abstract":"<ns4:p> <ns4:bold>Background:</ns4:bold> Data sharing is now a mandatory prerequisite for several major funders and journals, where researchers are obligated to deposit the data resulting from their studies in an openly accessible repository. Biomedical open data are now widely available in almost all disciplines, where researchers can freely access and reuse these data in new studies. We aim to assess the impact of open data in terms of publications generated using open data and citations received by these publications, where we will analyze publications that used the Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC) as an example. </ns4:p> <ns4:p> <ns4:bold>Methods:</ns4:bold> As of July 2019, there was a total of 194 datasets stored in BioLINCC repository and accessable through their portal. We requested the full list of publications that used these datasets from BioLINCC, and we also performed a supplementary PubMed search for other publications. We used Web of Science (WoS) to analyze the characteristics of publications and the citations they received. </ns4:p> <ns4:p> <ns4:bold>Results:</ns4:bold> 1,086 published articles used data from BioLINCC repository, but only 987 (90.88%) articles were WoS indexed. The number of publications has steadily increased since 2002 and peaked in 2018 with a total number of 138 publications on that year. The 987 open data publications received a total of 34,181 citations up to 1 <ns4:sup>st</ns4:sup> October 2019. The average citation per item for the open data publications was 34.63. The total number of citations received by open data publications per year has increased from only 2 citations in 2002, peaking in 2018 with 2361 citations. </ns4:p> <ns4:p> <ns4:bold>Conclusion:</ns4:bold> The vast majority of studies that used BioLINCC open data were published in WoS indexed journals and are receiving an increasing number of citations. </ns4:p>","journal":"F1000Research","year":2020,"id":114210,"datarank":0.21975700221172081,"base_score":1.0986122886681096,"endowment":1.0986122886681096,"self_citation_contribution":0.16479184330021646,"citation_network_contribution":0.05496515891150435,"self_endowment_contribution":0.16479184330021646,"citer_contribution":0.05496515891150435,"corpus_percentile":37.294035739150615,"corpus_rank":8107,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":2,"citers_with_citation_signal":2,"citers_with_endowment":2,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":true,"is_dataset_confidence":0.8559,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":83.3333,"fair_percentile":98.86884744726383,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":537657,"name":"Osama El Khatib","orcid":"0000-0002-3697-7708","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":538188,"name":"Ola Al-qawasmi","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":538189,"name":"Hadeel Alkasrawi","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":538190,"name":"Raneem al Zu’bi","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":538191,"name":"Maram Abu-Halaweh","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":538192,"name":"Yara alkanash","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":537658,"name":"Ibrahim Habash","orcid":"0000-0002-3548-4100","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":537656,"name":"Saif Aldeen AlRyalat","orcid":"0000-0001-5588-9458","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":12,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:13:29.674622Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":88.8889,"fair_a":62.5,"fair_i":40.0,"fair_r":41.6667,"fair_zscore":1.9349,"fair_rationale":{"fair_score":83.33,"has_llm":true,"taxonomy_version":"fair_taxonomy_v5","dimensions":{"F":{"name":"Findable","score":88.89,"criteria":[{"key":"f_dataset_pid","label":"Persistent identifier for the data","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"10.7910/DVN/1TXA3C","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper provides a DOI for the dataset.","anchors":["RDA-F1-01D — FAIR Data Maturity Model: 'Data is identified by a persistent identifier' (priorit","RDA-F1-02D — FAIR Data Maturity Model: 'Data is identified by a globally unique identifier'","FsF-F1-02D — F-UJI/FAIRsFAIR: 'Data is assigned a persistent identifier'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"f_repository_named","label":"Named repository","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"Harvard Dataverse","grounded":true,"rationale":"The data are deposited in Harvard Dataverse, a recognised data repository.","anchors":["RDA-F4-01M — FAIR Data Maturity Model: metadata is offered so it can be harvested and indexed (","NIH DMS Policy Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — name the repository where data will be archived","NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Long-Term Sustainability', 'Reten"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"f_data_availability_statement","label":"Data-availability statement","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"Underlying data: Harvard Dataverse: Publications that used Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC) datasets. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/1TXA3C7 This project contains the following underlying data: • BioLINCC Dataset.tab (Spreadsheet containing details of publications using BioLINCC datasets) Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero “No rights reserved” data waive r (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication).","grounded":false,"rationale":"The statement points to a repository record with a DOI. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["Colavizza, Hrynaszkiewicz, Staden, Whitaker & McGillivray (2020), 'The citation advantage of li","Springer Nature research data policy — Data Availability Statements: standard statement templat","RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"f_discovery_metadata","label":"Description of the dataset as an object","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"• BioLINCC Dataset.tab (Spreadsheet containing details of publications using BioLINCC datasets)","grounded":true,"rationale":"An itemised inventory of the dataset is given as a bullet list.","anchors":["RDA-F2-01M — 'Rich metadata is provided to allow discovery' (priority Essential)","FsF-F2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes descriptive core elements to support data findability'","FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data'"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"f_dataset_cited","label":"Dataset formally cited","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"AlRyalat SA: Publications that used Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC) datasets. 2019. http://www.doi.org/10.7910/DVN/1TXA3C","grounded":true,"rationale":"The dataset appears as a reference-list entry in the References section (reference 7). [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FORCE11 Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles (2014) — data should be cited as a first-","RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes","FsF-F3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes the identifier of the data it describes'"],"scored":true,"signal":null}]},"A":{"name":"Accessible","score":62.5,"criteria":[{"key":"a_data_openly_accessible","label":"Access route free of preconditions","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero “No rights reserved” data waive r (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication).","grounded":true,"rationale":"The access route is unconditional, with no stated precondition. [majority verdict 'yes' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-A1.1-01D — 'Data is accessible through a free access protocol'","FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data'","NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Free and Easy Access'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"a_access_conditions_stated","label":"Access level labelled","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero “No rights reserved” data waive r (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication).","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper describes the access conditions via a license but does not use an explicit access-level label such as 'open access'. [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data'","RDA-A1-01M — metadata contains information to enable the user to get access to the data","COAR Controlled Vocabularies — Access Rights v1.0 (open / embargoed / restricted / metadata-onl"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"a_controlled_access_for_sensitive","label":"Gatekeeper for sensitive data","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The paper's own data are not sensitive or human-subject, and no gatekeeper is named.","anchors":["NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy (NOT-OD-14-124) — controlled-access via a Data Access Committee","RDA-A1.2-01D — 'Data is accessible through an access protocol that supports authentication and ","NIH DMS Policy Element 5 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Access, Distribution, or Reuse Considerations (conse"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"a_timeline_retention","label":"Availability timing & retention","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No statement about when the data are available or how long they persist.","anchors":["NIH DMS Plan Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines","NSTC Desirable Characteristics (2022), Organizational Infrastructure: 'Retention Policy'","RDA-A2-01M — 'Metadata is guaranteed to remain available after data is no longer available'"],"scored":false,"signal":null}]},"I":{"name":"Interoperable","score":40.0,"criteria":[{"key":"i_open_nonproprietary_format","label":"Open file format","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"BioLINCC Dataset.tab","grounded":true,"rationale":"The .tab extension indicates a tab-separated values file, which is an open, community-standard format. [majority verdict 'yes' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FsF-R1.3-02D — F-UJI: 'Data is available in a file format recommended by the target research co","RDA-R1.3-02D — data is expressed in a machine-understandable community standard","RDA-I1-01D — data uses a knowledge representation expressed in a standardised format"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"i_community_standard_vocabulary","label":"Community standard / vocabulary","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No community data or metadata standard is named for the dataset.","anchors":["RDA-R1.3-01M — 'Metadata complies with a community standard' (priority Essential)","RDA-R1.3-01D — 'Data complies with a community standard'","RDA-I2-01M — '(Meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles'"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"i_qualified_references","label":"Identifiers for the resources the data depend on","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No identifier is given for any external resource that the data depend on.","anchors":["RDA-I3-01M — '(meta)data include references to other (meta)data'","RDA-I3-03M — 'metadata includes qualified references to other metadata'","FsF-I3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes links between the data and its related entities'"],"scored":false,"signal":null}]},"R":{"name":"Reusable","score":41.67,"criteria":[{"key":"r_reuse_license","label":"Reuse licence","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"Creative Commons Zero “No rights reserved” data waive r (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication)","grounded":true,"rationale":"The data are licensed under CC0, an open standard license.","anchors":["RDA-R1.1-01M — 'Metadata includes information about the licence under which the data can be reu","RDA-R1.1-02M — 'Metadata refers to a standard reuse licence'","RDA-R1.1-03M — 'Metadata refers to a machine-understandable reuse licence'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"r_provenance_methods","label":"Provenance of the data","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"We requested the full list of publications that used these datasets from BioLINCC, and we also performed a supplementary PubMed search for other publications.","grounded":true,"rationale":"The collection method is described in generic terms without naming specific instruments. [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-R1.2-01M — 'Metadata includes provenance information according to community- specific standa","FsF-R1.2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes provenance information about data creation or generati","W3C PROV-O (W3C Recommendation, 2013) — the entity/activity/agent model of provenance"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"r_documentation_codebook","label":"Documentation / codebook","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No documentation object (README, codebook, schema) is named as accompanying the data, and no variable definitions are given inside the article. [majority verdict 'no' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-R1-01M — '(Meta)data are richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attribu","FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data'","NIH DMS Policy Element 3 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Standards (documentation and metadata to accompany t"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"r_versioning","label":"Snapshot identified","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No version token or date is given for the dataset snapshot.","anchors":["DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — the 'Version' property","RDA-R1.2-01M — provenance information (which version was used is provenance)","NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Provenance', 'Retention Policy'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"x_code_availability","label":"Analysis code available","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No code is mentioned or made available.","anchors":["NIH DMS Policy Element 2 (NOT-OD-21-014) — 'Related Tools, Software and/or Code'","FAIR4RS Principles v1.0 (Chue Hong et al., 2022; RDA/FORCE11/ReSA) — FAIR Principles for Resear","FORCE11 Software Citation Principles (Smith, Katz & Niemeyer, 2016, PeerJ CS 2:e86)"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"x_funding_attribution","label":"Funder and award number","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No funder is named; the authors declare no grants.","anchors":["DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — 'FundingReference' property (funderName, funderIdentifier, award","Crossref Funder Registry — canonical funder identifiers for funding metadata","RDA-F2-01M — rich metadata provided to allow discovery (funding is part of the descriptive reco"],"scored":true,"signal":null}]}},"actions":[{"key":"x_code_availability","dimension":"R","label":"Analysis code available","action":"Publish the analysis code in a public forge, archive a tagged release with a DOI (Zenodo/Software Heritage), and cite that DOI in the paper. NIH DMS Element 2 asks for the tools and code, not only the data — and 'available on request' is not a locator.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No code is mentioned or made available.","gain":8.33,"priority":"important","scored":true},{"key":"r_versioning","dimension":"R","label":"Snapshot identified","action":"Version the deposit and cite the exact version analysed (a version-specific DOI, or an accession with its version suffix). A reader reproducing your work against 'the current release' is reproducing it against a different dataset.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No version token or date is given for the dataset snapshot.","gain":4.17,"priority":"useful","scored":true},{"key":"x_funding_attribution","dimension":"R","label":"Funder and award number","action":"State the funder AND the award number in the paper, and put them in the dataset's FundingReference metadata. A funder name alone cannot be linked back to the award, so the funding provenance of the data is lost the moment the paper is indexed.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No funder is named; the authors declare no grants.","gain":4.17,"priority":"useful","scored":true},{"key":"f_data_availability_statement","dimension":"F","label":"Data-availability statement","action":"Replace the statement with the repository template: name the repository and give the accession or DOI (Colavizza category 3). This is the only DAS class associated with a measured citation advantage; 'available on reasonable request' and 'within the article' are not.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"Underlying data: Harvard Dataverse: Publications that used Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC) datasets. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/1TXA3C7 This project contains the following underlying data: • BioLINCC Dataset.tab (Spreadsheet containing details of publications using BioLINCC datasets) Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero “No rights reserved” data waive r (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication).","why":"The statement points to a repository record with a DOI. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"essential","scored":false},{"key":"a_access_conditions_stated","dimension":"A","label":"Access level labelled","action":"State the access level in words, using the standard vocabulary: 'These data are open access' / 'These data are controlled access'. A reader — and a harvester — should not have to infer the access level from the presence of a download link.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero “No rights reserved” data waive r (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication).","why":"The paper describes the access conditions via a license but does not use an explicit access-level label such as 'open access'. [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"i_community_standard_vocabulary","dimension":"I","label":"Community standard / vocabulary","action":"Adopt and NAME your domain's data standard — the minimum-information checklist, metadata schema, or ontology your community uses (MIAME/MINSEQE, ISA-Tab, BIDS, an OBO ontology, HL7 FHIR/OMOP) — and say which one you followed. A reporting checklist standardises your paper; it does nothing for your data.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No community data or metadata standard is named for the dataset.","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"r_provenance_methods","dimension":"R","label":"Provenance of the data","action":"Name the instruments, kits, and software — with versions — that produced the data, not just the verbs. 'Reads were aligned' is not provenance; 'aligned with STAR v2.7.9a to GRCh38' is, because someone else can rerun it.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"We requested the full list of publications that used these datasets from BioLINCC, and we also performed a supplementary PubMed search for other publications.","why":"The collection method is described in generic terms without naming specific instruments. [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"r_documentation_codebook","dimension":"R","label":"Documentation / codebook","action":"Ship a README and a data dictionary IN the deposit — every file, every variable, its units, its allowed values, its missing-value codes. It is the cheapest single thing that makes a dataset usable by someone who was not in the lab, and a table buried in the article does not travel with the data.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No documentation object (README, codebook, schema) is named as accompanying the data, and no variable definitions are given inside the article. [majority verdict 'no' (4/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"a_controlled_access_for_sensitive","dimension":"A","label":"Gatekeeper for sensitive data","action":"Route sensitive data through an institutional gatekeeper — deposit in a controlled- access repository (dbGaP, EGA) with a Data Access Committee and a published DUA — rather than through the corresponding author's inbox. An author-gated dataset dies with the author's email address, and 'on reasonable request' has been shown repeatedly not to yield data.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"The paper's own data are not sensitive or human-subject, and no gatekeeper is named.","gain":0.0,"priority":"useful","scored":false},{"key":"i_qualified_references","dimension":"I","label":"Identifiers for the resources the data depend on","action":"Cite by identifier every resource the data depend on — the source datasets' accessions, the reference build (GRCh38 / GCA_000001405.28), the cohort application number, the code DOI — and register those relations on the dataset record (IsDerivedFrom, IsSupplementTo). A name is not a link: it cannot be resolved, versioned, or followed by a machine.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No identifier is given for any external resource that the data depend on.","gain":0.0,"priority":"useful","scored":false},{"key":"a_timeline_retention","dimension":"A","label":"Availability timing & retention","action":"State when the data become available AND how long they will be retained — cite the repository's preservation policy. NIH DMS Element 4 asks for both; most papers give neither.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No statement about when the data are available or how long they persist.","gain":0.0,"priority":"useful","scored":false}],"suggestions":["Publish the analysis code in a public forge, archive a tagged release with a DOI (Zenodo/Software Heritage), and cite that DOI in the paper. NIH DMS Element 2 asks for the tools and code, not only the data — and 'available on request' is not a locator.","Version the deposit and cite the exact version analysed (a version-specific DOI, or an accession with its version suffix). A reader reproducing your work against 'the current release' is reproducing it against a different dataset.","State the funder AND the award number in the paper, and put them in the dataset's FundingReference metadata. A funder name alone cannot be linked back to the award, so the funding provenance of the data is lost the moment the paper is indexed.","Replace the statement with the repository template: name the repository and give the accession or DOI (Colavizza category 3). This is the only DAS class associated with a measured citation advantage; 'available on reasonable request' and 'within the article' are not.","State the access level in words, using the standard vocabulary: 'These data are open access' / 'These data are controlled access'. A reader — and a harvester — should not have to infer the access level from the presence of a download link."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash","agent_version":"fair_agent_v8","fulltext_source":"unpaywall_pdf"},"fair_model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash","fair_agent_version":"fair_agent_v8","fair_fulltext_source":"unpaywall_pdf","fair_has_llm":true,"fair_computed_at":"2026-07-20T13:24:33.396955Z","clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}