Sharing GWAS summary statistics results in more citations: evidence from the GWAS catalog

Abstract

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been a crucial tool in genomics and an example of applied reproducible science principles for almost two decades.¹ Their output, summary statistics, are especially suited for sharing, which in turn enables new hypothesis testing and scientific discovery. However, GWAS summary statistics sharing rates have been historically low due to a lack of incentives and strong data sharing mandates, privacy concerns and standard guidelines.² Albeit imperfect, citations are a key metric to evaluate the research impact. We hypothesised that data sharing might benefit authors through increased citation rates and investigated this using GWAS catalog³ data. We found that sharers get on average ~75% more citations, independently of journal of publication and impact factor, and that this effect is sustained over time. This work provides further incentivises authors to share their GWAS summary statistics in standard repositories, such as the GWAS catalog.