01

Data Availability Statement

Every manuscript includes a Data Availability Statement (see the Author Guidelines). It says where the data, code, materials, or other evidence behind the results can be found, with the conditions of access, or why they cannot be shared.

02

What we encourage

—  Deposit the data in a trustworthy repository and cite it with a persistent identifier.

—  Describe the instruments, the coding scheme, the sampling, and the analysis in enough detail for others to understand how the results were reached.

—  Share code and materials where this is possible.

03

Limits

—  Authors need not break the consent of participants, privacy duties, legal restrictions, or the rights of others. In studies with people, such as interviews and surveys, data may be shared only in a form that cannot identify the participants, or may be withheld, and the reason must be stated.

—  Restrictions on access are explained openly in the statement.

04

Requests from the journal

Authors must be ready to give the editors the underlying data or documentation when this is reasonably needed to assess the reliability of the work. The editors treat such material confidentially.

05

Suspected problems

Suspected fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of data is handled under the Research Misconduct policy.

06

Related

Author Guidelines  ·  Ethical Clearance  ·  Research Misconduct  ·  Reporting Guidelines

07

Sources

This policy is based on the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE):