Data Sharing Policy
JAHCR supports responsible data sharing because it makes research more transparent, easier to reproduce and easier to build on. In HIV research, it also has to be balanced against the privacy of the people whose data it is.
Data Availability
We encourage authors to make the data behind their findings openly available, within the limits set by ethics, law, institutional rules and participant privacy.
What Counts as Data
This policy covers all data relevant to a published study: raw and processed data, supplementary files, code and metadata. That includes viral sequence and drug-resistance data, cohort and trial data, laboratory results, imaging and statistical output.
Where to Deposit
Please use an established repository that assigns persistent identifiers such as DOIs, for example:
- GenBank or the Los Alamos HIV Sequence Database for viral sequences
- GEO or SRA for transcriptomic and other high-throughput sequencing data
- Dryad, Figshare, Zenodo or an institutional repository for general research data
Data Availability Statement
Every manuscript must include a Data Availability Statement saying where and how the data can be accessed. For example: "The data supporting this study are available at [repository link] under accession number or DOI [identifier]." If the data cannot be shared, the statement must say why, for example because of participant privacy or an ethical or legal restriction.
Patient Data and Privacy
HIV status and related clinical information are highly sensitive. Shared data must be fully de-identified. Take particular care with small populations or rare combinations of characteristics, where a person could be identified indirectly. See Ethical Approvals and Informed Consent.
Access During Review
Editors and reviewers may ask to see the underlying data to check results, reproducibility or integrity. Authors must provide it promptly and in a usable form.
Non-Compliance
Manuscripts without a Data Availability Statement are returned to the authors before peer review.
