Research data sharing across disciplines and borders has been rapidly expanding around the world. This paper presents an overview of the comprehensive activities being conducted on the sharing of biological data as an advanced case. The attempts to integrate cross-interdisciplinary data for innovation, and the data citation activities that have led to the establishment of research data sharing incentives are elucidated. Then, using Thomson Reuters' Data Citation Index (DCI) and re3data.org (registry of research data repositories), the author investigates Japan's contribution. The results showed that approximately 62,000 records (4.3%) in the DCI, are contributed by Japanese institutions. The primary subject areas of Japanese research data are, in descending order, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Genetics Heredity, and Spectroscopy. According to re3data.org, institutions in Japan run 43 repositories, some of which collaborate with other countries, and 10 of which are certificated by re3data.org. To further utilize and access shared data, it is important for institutions to meet repository certification standards and improve interoperability.
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