The American Heart Association recognizes the value of open practices when it comes to its research investments.
Under the umbrella of “open science,” the organization has had both public access and open data policies in place for more than a decade. The Heart Association requires all journal articles that result from its funding be made freely available in PubMed Central within 12 months of publication. Its open data policy, which was updated in August 2023, calls for any data needed for independent verification of research results to be made freely available in a Heart Association-approved repository no later than the time of an associated publication or the end of the award period (or no cost extension).
The nonprofit organization recently updated its website with Open Science Policy Statements for American Heart Association Funded Research and free, downloadable resources including Steps for Open Science Compliance, Sample Data Plans, and a Data Deposit Workbook.
In late 2023, the Heart Association hired Sara Jarvis, a cardiovascular physiologist, to be its first Research Accountability and Excellence Manager. She helped develop materials and training for grantees to comply with the requirements of its open data policy.
Jarvis has created videos and templates to make it easier for scientists to organize and share their data. The Heart Association has posted its Open Science Training: Data Management and Sharing Webinar slides and recording on its website. Much of the focus is on educating grantees about the policy, helping them select an appropriate repository and understanding adequate documentation.
“My background in academia and research helps me translate our policy and bridge that gap,” Jarvis said.
It’s a big job to communicate the requirements and expectations to all grantees. The Heart Association has 2,200 active awards totaling $584 million in multi-year grants. Since 1949, the association has invested $6.1 billion in research – investing more money on cardiovascular and brain health research than any other non-profit and non-governmental organization..
Jarvis said open practices both amplify the impact and provide transparency.
“For researchers, we want to be able to continue the momentum of discovery and be able to allow other scientists to build upon those findings,” Jarvis said. “To be able to independently verify research results of each other’s work opens up collaborative endeavors for scientists.”
For the public, she added, open practices promote accountability and foster trust in science. “We want to be able to allow the public to see what research is being funded,” Jarvis said. “We have a duty to our donors to be good stewards of their dollars, and so we want to ensure that the public can also view all of those research projects that we fund.”
The Heart Association adheres to the FAIR (findable, responsible, interoperable and reuseable) principles so data is saved in a format that is accessible, without any cost or technical barriers. Using the suite of resources she helped to steward, Jarvis walks grantees through the process to preserve and share data. She has created a data dictionary, chronicled how to upload data, and provided a list of more than 70 approved repositories.
In designing the materials, Jarvis said she integrated free resources from the Center for Open Science and then adapted for the Heart Association grantees. She is also staying connected with colleagues doing similar work through the Open Research Funders Group, an initiative of SPARC.
So far, there hasn’t been significant push back from grantees about the requirements, Jarvis said, and she is soliciting feedback from users to make the materials more useful.
The Heart Association also has mandatory open science training sessions for large grantees right after receiving their awards. Initially, those were just for larger grants (about 20), but Jarvis said the association recently expanded the training as optional to smaller award recipients. Recently, the training was offered to a group covering about 100 awards and it was well received by the 40 who attended, according to Jarvis. Geared toward researchers from all career stages, it covers file naming and other practices, she said, that are helpful to have at the beginning of the research process rather than the end. The Heart Association also offers recorded training sessions, consultation appointments and check points along the research cycle to provide support in complying with the policies.
“Awardees just need to communicate with us, if they’re struggling with something,” Jarvis said. “We have resources. We’re willing to help.”