Data Sharing Policy

JCOM supports responsible data sharing because it makes research more transparent, easier to reproduce and easier to build on. 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, models and metadata.

Where to Deposit

Please use an established repository that assigns persistent identifiers such as DOIs, for example:

• GEO or SRA for sequencing and other high-throughput data
• Dryad, Figshare, Zenodo or an institutional repository for general research data
• A recognised trial registry and data platform for clinical trial 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.

Patient Data and Privacy

Shared data must be fully de-identified. Take particular care with small groups 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.