Should I contact an author if I can (or cannot) find their data ?
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3.7 years ago
bowog86217 ▴ 20

Hi,

I have been struggling finding the data a specific paper. In my case I am interested in the dataset called the "Onge" from this paper. However when I use the accession number they use "PRJEB16019" i can find all the population they are talking about except the one I am interested in.

The issue is that I see other paper using this data but I have been looking for it for over 2 days and can't put my hands on those reads.

Should I contact the author or does any of you have an idea where I can find those data ?

Thank you

reads dataset publication • 1.3k views
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3
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Many of these files have no library name it seems, it often says "unclassified". I would email them and ask for a document that maps the run accession (e.g. ERR1812158) to the library name, here BIR-08, which is probably what you need to identify the samples.

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why not. just drop an email

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3.7 years ago
seidel 11k

Yes, you should contact the author. That's why they put their contact information on the paper. Quite often there are problems between the publication and data availability, or having to do with how the data is described in repositories. Contacting them helps serve several purposes - it gives you the chance to make a connection, it gives them the chance to know their data is being used and scrutinized, and it helps reinforce the importance in their mind and yours about making data available, and clearly, unambiguously, impeccably described. Never hesitate to contact the author - it's a good thing to do. To note, they may not always respond, or they may not respond in a way that is useful, but that also tells you something. If you're having a problem - it's very likely that many people are having a problem. Be assertive, help everyone, contact them :)

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