Although many research stakeholders now support, encourage and even mandate research data sharing, researchers often fail to consider an appropriate data sharing method until the point when a journal editor or peer reviewer requests that they do so.

In an ideal world, what would you need to know about data sharing before you submit your manuscript to your chosen journal?

1. While journal policies have become more consistent across publishers, there are still a number of different elements that your chosen journal’s policy might cover. Before you submit your manuscript, check the Instructions for Authors for their guidance on topics such as supplementary files, data citation, data peer review, and the use of repositories.
2. As part of any manuscript submission, be prepared to describe the data underpinning your research, where it’s currently being stored, how it can be accessed, and any access restrictions, as part of your data availability statement.
3. Editors are aware that some datasets cannot be openly shared. For example if your research involved human research participants and you don’t have permission to share their data, or if your data are commercially sensitive, you will not be forced to share the data openly. You should expect to provide an explanation of why the data cannot be shared however.

These are some general rules of thumb for data sharing when you’re publishing in a journal. If you are interested in learning more, please join our free webinar, “Sharing Research Data: What Publishers Want Authors to Know,” on December 8th at 10.00 GMT: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6263765322072013324

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