Sowing the Seeds of Future Research: Data Sharing, Citation and Reuse in Archaeobotany

Abstract

The practices of data sharing, data citation and data reuse are all crucial aspects of the reproducibility of archaeological research. This article builds on the small number of studies reviewing data sharing and citation practices in archaeology, focussing on the data-rich sub-discipline of archaeobotany. Archaeobotany is a sub-discipline built on the time-intensive collection of data on archaeological plant remains, in order to investigate crop choice, crop husbandry, diet, vegetation and a wide range of other past human-plant relationships. Within archaeobotany, the level and form of data sharing is currently unknown. This article first reviews the form of data shared and the method of data sharing in 239 articles across 16 journals which present primary plant macrofossil studies. Second, it assesses data-citation in meta-analysis studies in 107 articles across 20 journals. Third, it assesses data reuse practices in archaeobotany, before exploring how these research practices can be improved to benefit the rigour and reuse of archaeobotanical research.