Sharing GWAS Summary Statistics Results in More Citations

Rates of sharing of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics are historically low, limiting potential for scientific discovery. Here we show, using GWAS Catalog data, that GWAS papers that share data get on average 81.8% more citations, an effect that is sustained over time. A review of citation rates from genomic studies in the GWAS Catalog suggests that sharing summary statistics results, on average, in ~81.8% more citations, highlighting a benefit of publicly sharing GWAS summary statistics.