Open data isn’t only for governments and the public sector: good news from academia

Excellent news from the academic publishing community, and news which reminds me how back in the last century the British Library blanched when I wanted to submit a 3.5′ floppy disk containing data files along with a copy of my PhD on 19th century elections. Thankfully the world has moved and is further moving on from that:

A Joint Statement by Political Science Journal Editors

In this joint statement, leading journals commit to greater data access and research transparency, and to implement policies requiring authors to make as accessible as possible the empirical foundation and logic of inquiry of evidence-based research. Please visit dartstatement.org for more information.

Transparency requires making visible both the empirical foundation and the logic of inquiry of research. We agree that by January 15, 2016, we will

• Require authors to ensure that cited data are available at the time of publication through a trusted digital repository. Journals may specify which trusted digital repository shall be used (e.g., if they have their own Dataverse). If cited data are restricted (e.g., classified, require confidentiality protections, were obtained under a non-disclosure agreement, or have inherent logistical constraints), authors must notify the editor at the time of submission. The editor shall have full discretion to follow their journal’s policy on restricted data, including declining to review the manuscript or granting an exemption with or without conditions. The editor shall inform the author of that decision prior to review.

• Require authors to delineate clearly the analytic procedures upon which their published claims rely, and where possible to provide access to all relevant analytic materials. If such materials are not published with the article, they must be shared to the greatest extent possible through institutions with demonstrated capacity to provide long-term access.

• Maintain a consistent data citation policy to increase the credit that data creators and suppliers receive for their work. These policies include using data citation practices that identify a dataset’s author(s), title, date, version, and a persistent identifier. In sum, we will require authors who base their claims on data created by others to reference and cite those data as an intellectual product of value.

• Ensure that journal style guides, codes of ethics, publication manuals, and other forms of guidance are updated and expanded to include improved data access and research transparency requirements.