Data sharing policy | Biomedical Research and Therapy

We are committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research. We support and encourage research data to be shared, discoverable, citable, and recognized as an intellectual product of value.

Research data refers to units of information collected, observed, generated, or created to validate original research findings. Data may be numerical, descriptive, aural, or visual. Research data varies widely in format across disciplines, and can be anything from spreadsheets of quantifiable information, to qualitative information like interview data or field notes. Read a list of examples of qualitative data.

Option 1 : Encouragement (share, cite, and linking encouraged)

Authors are encouraged to:

Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
Include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, use the statement to confirm why it cannot be shared.
Cite this data in your research

Option 2 : Requirement (share, cite, and linking mandatory)

As a condition of publication authors are required to:

Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
Include a data availability statement. This should:
- Indicate if data is available and shared
- In certain cases, indicate if research data is available but not shared, and why. If you cannot share your data and this is a requirement of publication, consult the journal editorial office.
- Indicate if there is an absence of data
Cite data in your research

Option 3 : Verification (share, cite, and linking mandatory, with peer review)

As a condition of publication, authors are required to:

Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
Include a data availability statement. This should:
- Indicate if data is available and shared
- In certain cases, indicate if research data is available but not shared, and why. If you cannot share your data and this is a requirement of publication, consult the journal editorial office.
- Indicate if there is an absence of data
Cite data in your research

Peer reviewers may be asked to peer review the research data prior to publication. Please refer to individual journal guidelines which will confirm what reviewers will be asked to do for that journal.