Journal Requirements

Transparency, open sharing, and reproducibility are core values of science, but not always part of daily practice. Journals, funders, and scholarly societies can increase reproducibility of research by adopting the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines and helping them evolve to meet the needs of researchers and publishers while pursuing the most transparent practices.

The websites of a growing number of publishers provide guidelines on research data management. Some publishers encourage researchers to provide their data, but it may also be mandatory in order to publish the article. We provide an Excel workbook (xlsx, 31 kB) with requirements of publishers to assist you.

Please note that in some cases, it is possible to archive both your publication and data at a journal. Make sure that you do not hand over any author rights belonging to your data.

How can I use the Excel workbook?

  • The first worksheet contains an extensive list of journals and their publishers. Generally speaking, it is the publisher that lays down requirements regarding research data management
  • The second worksheet contains a list of publishers and their guidelines on managing research data
  • In some cases, different guidelines may apply to different journals belonging to one and the same publisher (Wiley and Cambridge University Press are examples). This information can also be found in the second worksheet
  • In some instances, only a general link has been included. Requirements on managing data are usually found under author guidelines (see the sidebar on the left on the Wiley website) or journal information (see the sidebar on the left on the Cambridge University Press website). Use the search function CTR+F to search for data

What if a journal is not listed?

This list is not complete. We have looked at the journals in which researchers from Radboud University have published most frequently over the past few years.

If you find that a particular journal you are looking for is not included in this list, we would suggest that you try to find the publisher. By using the second worksheet (Excel workbook (xlsx, 31 kB)) you may be able to find the correct information. We will be happy to add journals to the list. Please send us an e-mail with your request and the exact title of the journal you are looking for.

Major publishers

Elsevier
Elsevier supports the principle that research data are made freely available to all researchers, but does not oblige authors to make these data available. Authors are, however, strongly encouraged to deposit their datasets in relevant data repositories or to make them available through other channels. If a suitable data repository cannot be found, Elsevier enables its authors to store additional information relevant to the article as a supplementary file. Authors retain their copyright with respect to this additional information.

PLOS
All data and relevant metadata have to be deposited in a relevant and publicly accessible data repository, unless the data already form part of the submitted article. The data availability statement should specify the names of the repositories, DOI’s and/or access numbers for the relevant data sets. Smaller data sets may be uploaded as supporting-information files. These should be submitted in a format that allows the data to be extracted easily. For instance, where data in tables are concerned, a spreadsheet is preferable to a PDF file.

Whenever ethical or legal considerations prevent the author from handing over the data to a repository or submitting them together with an article, he or she may indicate that the data will be made available upon request to all interested researchers. Particualr considerations in a given case, such as possible implications for patent proceedings or possible future research, are not looked upon as valid exemptions to the rule. PLOS requires that authors meet the standards specific to their discipline when preparing and registering their data. Repositories should preferably adhere to accepted standards, such as the criteria formulated by the Centre for Research Libraries or the Data Seal of Approval. Licenses should be no more restrictive than CC-BY.

Information obtained through research on human trial subjects should be handled in such a way that the privacy of the individuals is fully protected.

Nature Publishing Group
When publishing in Nature journals, authors are upon request obliged to put all their material, data, code, and all related protocols immediately at the disposal of their readers. Supporting data must be made available to editors and peer reviewers at the time of submission for the purposes of evaluating the manuscript. All manuscripts reporting original research published in Nature journals must include a data availability statement. Possible restrictions on availability must be reported to the editors and indicated in the article itself.

As of May 2013, papers submitted in any field within life sciences must be accompanied by detailed information regarding the experimental and analytical design of the research. This is done by filling out a checklist. Supporting information must be available to editors and peer reviewers. Data should be deposited in a publicly accessible repository. Scientific Data, an open access sister journal to Nature, maintains a list of approved and recommended repositories, sorted by discipline.

A less desirable alternative would be to make data sets available as supplementary-information files. These become freely accessible upon publication through www.nature.com. If it appears technically impossible to provide a dataset, authors must provide a URL or another unique identifier.

Authors are encouraged to publish a data descriptor in Scientific Data. Data on cell lines should be deposited at a repository that has a certificate of authenticity. Consult www.nature.com for links to additional sources to check the identification of cell lines. Computer code should be made available upon request to editors and reviewers. It is recommended that experimental protocols are shared through Protocol Exchange. Separate guidelines exist for clinical trials.

Science
All of the information necessary to understand, evaluate and elaborate upon the conclusions presented in the manuscript should be available to the readers of Science. Datasets must be deposited in approved repositories and accession numbers must be mentioned in the article. Adherence to the MIBBI guidelines (Minimum Information for Biological and Biomedical Investigations) is encouraged. The same holds true for all computer codes that have been used to create or analyse the data.

Upon publication, all reasonable requests to provide information and materials must be met, and any exception or limitation must be reported to the editors. Fossils or other rare specimens have to be deposited at a public museum or repository and remain available for inspection.

Large datasets for which no approved repository can be found may be deposited as supplementary materials at Science or, if that is not possible, on an institutional website provided a copy of the data is deposited at Science in order to guarantee their availability to readers.