Forum4mica - Online Discussion Forum On Research Data In The Social, Behavioral, Educational and Economic Sciences

The constantly growing supply of reusable data resources in the social, educational, economic and other sciences opens up a wide range of potential for empirical research. This expansion is accompanied by an increasing need for information on the part of the users. Only a sound understanding of the sometimes highly complex data guarantees high-quality research. Support of and exchange with the scientific community is of particular importance in this regard. However, not only the quality of advice plays a role, but also transparency, openness to discourse and reusability.

Forum4MICA – Making Information Commonly Available - is a newly established online platform for topics relating to reusable data resources in Germany and the handling of this data. The implementation of a modern forum solution opens up new opportunities for exchange and discussion, as well as for networking among data users that go far beyond bilateral question-and-answer interactions. At the same time, the forum functions as a continuously growing knowledge archive in which contributions are sustainably available and searchable at any time. Forum4MICA is a low-threshold, well-structured service of Research Data Centers that helps to make relevant expert knowledge more easily accessible.

Since its launch in February 2023, more than 15 academic data providers have agreed to actively participate in the forum and over 560 registered users have already posted over 1,200 contributions. The aim of the presentation is to give an insight into the framework and potentials of the Forum4MICA, the advantages and challenges in establishing this service so far, and the plans for future developments.