Data as Scholarship: A Conversation at FORCE2026

DOI: 10.60804/2PEK-XM77

By John Chodacki and Kristi Holmes

For all the progress around open science, one thing remains stubbornly unresolved: research data is still rarely treated as a first-class scholarly output for tracking and reporting. This limits our ability to reward data contributions in tenure and promotion processes, and it means that data can't be fully leveraged to understand impact. That gap matters. When data isn't recognized, it isn't prioritized. And when it isn't prioritized, the broader goals of openness, reuse, and reproducibility become harder to realize in practice.

At this year's FORCE2026 Conference in Singapore, we're looking forward to being part of a panel that takes this challenge head on. The session builds on work from the IDEA (Implementing Data Evaluation in Academia) initiative that Make Data Count co-organized with HELIOS Open. IDEA has been developing practical tools to help institutions move from intention to implementation. This includes a maturity model to assess institutional readiness for data evaluation, template language for institutional policies, and case studies from early adopters.

What makes the conversation in Singapore especially compelling is the range of perspectives in the room. We'll hear from members of the IDEA Working Group about the motivation behind this effort and the resources now available to support institutions. We'll learn from institutions that have already begun integrating data into their evaluation frameworks (what worked, what didn't, and what they would do differently). We'll hear from key infrastructure systems about the critical role that technology plays in supporting data recognition and reward in the digital ecosystem. And we'll broaden the conversations with perspectives from the Asian region, where different policy environments and incentives are shaping how open data and open scholarship are being evaluated.

This isn't just a panel about policies. It's a discussion about change: how it happens, what gets in the way, and what it takes to move institutions forward.  Looking forward to seeing many Make Data Count community members there!