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The first of its kind, CODATA Connect Early Career and Alumni Network in collaboration with the CODATA Data Science Journal (DSJ) is organizing an Essay Competition for Early Career Researchers (ECR), defined as university undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate students or early career researchers within five years of completing their highest qualification. CODATA Connect exists to ensure a structural and sustained collaboration and support for the activities of the alumni of CODATA-RDA Summer Schools, of the CODATA China and Trieste Training Workshops and other early career researchers and data professionals involved in the CODATA community and those of partner organisations.

Topic for the Essay: “Open Data Challenges to Address Global and Societal Issues” 

• Participants interested in disseminating information on research data in the sciences, humanities and the arts using essays as the medium are welcome to apply.
• Topics might include but not limited to human health, climate change, resilience, etc. 
• Essays which discuss the necessary limits in openness are also in scope and are welcome (e.g. personal health information, indigenous sovereignty etc.)
• Essays that discuss the challenges in making data as open as possible and how such data can be used to address global and societal issues (Crime, Disease, Governance, etc.)
• Essays might discuss challenges at any point in the data lifecycle and in relation to any of a number of global and societal challenges.  
• We discourage essays that simply present well known and generic arguments in favour of open data.   
• Essays are encouraged to use local or specific examples for the benefits of open data and to discuss how challenges can be overcome in both specific circumstances and more globally.  

RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS

• The dates for the essay writing are: 1st April to 30th June 2020. 
• The Essay Writing Competition is open to all CODATA-RDA Summer Schools Alumni and any Early Career researchers. The essay writing time is 3 months and the length of the essay should be 2000-3000 words. References do not count as part of words limit. Each essay must contain the full name(s), affiliations and contacts details of the authors. Essay is accepted only in English Language.

THE JUDGING PANEL

The panel of judges consists of representatives from the CODATA Community and Editors of the CODATA Data Science Journal. The judges decision is final and may not be appealed. The review process will be single blind. Judges will not know the identity of the authors.

JUDGING CRITERIA 

Essays should be interesting, original and provocative but also clearly situated in a body of knowledge. It is important that authors show an appropriate knowledge of the chosen research area for discussions. Other criteria include but are not limited to:

• Contemporary relevance of the topic to science of data
• Demonstrated awareness of the state of discussion around the topic. Essays do not need to include a comprehensive literature review, but must illustrate where their argument fits into broader discussion in the field.
• Strength and persuasiveness of the argument, underpinned by reference to literature, evidence and data.
• Clarity of writing and appeal of the style.

FORMAT

Essays cover topics and controversies of interest to the community and aim to stimulate discussion and debate. Essays may be provocative and less focused on reporting original research work but should still consist of original thoughts and ideas. Essays should be no longer than 3,000 words in length. The content of the essay should be at the author’s preference.  

More information on the criteria for Essay submission at the DSJ can be found here: https://datascience.codata.org/about/submissions/

PRIZES

• The winning essay will be published in DSJ for free and the winner will receive a trip to the CODATA Symposium in October 2020 or future CODATA event as appropriate along with a formal certification of their achievement.
• Shortlisted essays will be invited for submission to the CODATA Data Science Journal (the usual peer review, article processing charges and waiver terms will apply).

SUBMITTING ESSAYS  

• The deadline for submitting the essays is 23:59 UTC on Tuesday 30 June 2020. Essays should be submitted at Click Here or sent by e-mail as pdf attachments to asha@codata.org
• Please make sure that you write “Essay Writing Competition April 2020: Your Name [Surname, Firstname]” in the subject of your email. 
• Please ensure that the PDF of the essay does not include any information about the author.
• Please provide your Name, Degree, Address and Institutional Affiliation in the covering email or in an accompanying document BUT NOT ON THE PDF OF THE SUBMITTED ESSAY. 
• If you are in the ECR category please provide the date of completion of the last degree with the pdf of the essay in one email.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS

The selected essay winner will be announced on the CODATA website https://www.codata.org/  by Saturday 15 August 2020. The winner will also be contacted through the CODATA Connect email.

CODATA reserves the right to publish the winners’ name and affiliation, as well as the winning essay on the CODATA Data Science Journal: https://datascience.codata.org/ 

ENQUIRY

For further enquiries and information, contact: codataconnect@codata.org

The DSJ editorial board has revised the focus and scope of the journal. It is not a big change, but rather one of clarification in a changing world. We primarily want to specify our definition of 'data science' as the classic sense of the science of data practices that advance human understanding and knowledge — the evidence-based study of the socio-technical developments and transformations that affect science policy; the conduct and methods of research; and the data systems, standards, and infrastructure that are integral to research. 

We recognize the contemporary emphasis on data science, which is more concerned with data analytics, statistics, and inference. We embrace this new definition but seek papers that focus specifically on the data concerns of an application in analytics, machine learning, cybersecurity or what have you. We continue to seek papers addressing data stewardship, representation, re-use, policy, education etc.

Most importantly, we seek broad lessons on the science of data. Contributors should generalize the significance of their contribution and demonstrate how their work has wide significance or application beyond their core study. 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Mark A. Parsons editor@codata.org on behalf of the Editorial Board https://datascience.codata.org/about/editorialteam/

Submissions https://datascience.codata.org/about/submissions/ 

In his blog post, Mark writes: 'I am especially interested in helping DSJ build its niche as an influential journal of the ‘science of data’ in the sense that CODATA described it decades ago. We need more fora that encourage dialog across research and practice to understand all the issues around the socio-technical work necessary for data to be findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable, ethical, secure, etc.’ ...

'I have been a member of the DSJ editorial board since the journal moved to Ubiquity Press, and I have been impressed at how Sarah Callaghan and other editors have worked to increase the journal’s quality. I want to continue this momentum. I want to further bolster the review quality and also raise the possibility of open reviews. The nature of DSJ is that it often attracts submissions and requires reviews from practitioners who have much less of a mandate to publish than researchers. I believe practitioners should be encouraged to contribute (with research as well as practice papers), so we should do what we can to recognize and model excellent contributions in this area. ...

'Thanks to Sarah’s great work, DSJ has a bright future as submissions continue to increase in number and quality. DSJ was ahead of its time when it was founded in the 1990s. I am eager to explore how it can continue to push important conversations forward. I welcome all your ideas. Please tell me what you think. Better yet, tell the community through a submission to DSJ!

Read more at http://codata.org/blog/2019/04/29/mark-parsons-joins-codata-as-editor-in-chief-data-science-journal/

Mark replaces Sarah Callaghan, who has served since 2015, when the Data Science Journal was moved to its current platform with Ubiquity Press.

Sarah writes:

'In my four year tenure, I am very proud of the fact that 135 papers have been published, along with 6 Special Collections with another 5 Special Collections in the pipeline. The journal has grown more popular and is steadily publishing research that is more impactful as time goes on, and this is a testament to the hard work of all involved – including our reviewers and authors.

'It is time for me to hand over the role of EiC to another, and it is with no small amount of sadness that I do so. Being EiC has been incredibly rewarding (and occasionally infuriating) and I have learned a great deal from it. I am very pleased to know that Mark Parsons is taking over the role, and know that the journal will be in safe, knowledgeable hands.

'It only remains for me to say my farewells and thank yous. Thank you to the authors, without whom there would be no articles to publish. A thousand thank yous to all my editors, reviewers, colleagues and friends – your efforts on behalf of the journal are deeply, deeply appreciated, as is your wisdom and expertise. I wish you all the very best for the future, and look forward to reading more excellent papers published in the DSJ!’

Read more at http://codata.org/blog/2019/04/29/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish-a-farewell-from-outgoing-data-science-journal-editor-in-chief-sarah-callaghan/