Can social capital and planned behaviour favour an increased willingness to share scientific data? Evidence from data originators

Purpose This study aims to reveal the factors that drive researchers to share data and to provide reference for promoting open scientific data. Design/methodology/approach Based on the theory of social capital and the theory of planned behaviour, hypotheses were proposed and the model was developed. The authors acquired 479 valid samples of Chinese researchers through questionnaires and conducted an empirical analysis via AMOS 23.0. Findings Attitudes towards data sharing are significantly and positively correlated with trust, reciprocity and social interaction, but not with a shared vision; willingness to share data is significantly and positively correlated with attitudes and perceived behavioural control, but not with subjective norms; furthermore, data quality, which performed the function of a moderating variable, was found to play a facilitating role in the above correlations. Based on the findings, suggestions for relevant entities were specified. Originality/value The study developed and validated an integrated theoretical framework, clarified the mechanism by which social capital and planned behaviour affect willingness to share data, hoping to provide reference and empirical support for subsequent studies as well as new ideas for data management and sharing.