"Two major issues appeared yesterday. One is the sustainability and durability of research projects..."
Two major issues appeared yesterday. One is the sustainability and durability of research projects originated as “just-in-time” ones. Rapid response papers are necessarily imperfect or incomplete, precisely because they need to be put together in such a short time; so they require integration in a longer term perspective, aiming at theoretical refinement and empirical validation. But over time, media enthusiasm may fade away, expected sources of funding may not materialize, data may be difficult or expensive to collect, and ethical committees may become more conservative in granting authorizations to projects such as these, which typically have strong political orientation (and implications).
The other issue is the availability of data. Internet firms and social networking services are understanding more and more clearly the economic value of data, and are more and more reluctant to give them away for free. This is creating increasing obstacles for research programmes that need these data as digital traces allowing to keep track of, and reconstitute, ongoing social change. There needs to be some strong political action to prevent this from happening .