Sharing data: a better way to go?

On Tuesday I became involved in a discussion about data sharing with JB Poline and Matthew Brett. Two days later the issue came up again, this time on Twitter. In both discussions I heard a lot of frustration with the status quo, but I also heard aspirations for a data nirvana where everything is shared willingly and any data set is never more than a couple of clicks away. What was absent from the conversations, it seemed to me, were reasonable, practical ways to improve our lot.*  It got me thinking about the present ways we do business, and in particular where the incentives and the impediments can be found.

Now, it is undoubtedly the case that some scientists are more amenable to sharing than others. (Turns out scientists are humans first! Scary, but true.) Some scientists can be downright obdurate when faced with a request to make their data public. In response, a few folks in the pro-sharing camp have suggested that we lean on those who drag their feet, especially where individuals have previously agreed to share data as a condition of publishing in a particular journal; name and shame. It could work, but I'm not keen on this approach for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it makes the task personal which means it could mutate into outright war that extends far beyond the issue at hand and could have wide-ranging consequences for the combatants. Secondly, the number of targets is large, meaning that the process would be time-consuming.


Where might pressure be applied most productively?