Definitions of what research data is varies by discipline. 'Data' includes a research output that has been collected, observed or created for the purpose of analysis to produce the research results. Research data can include (but are not limited to): raw data, processed data, software, algorithms, protocols, methods, materials, photographs, specimens, etc. Generally, these policies apply to all research data that underlie and support the results documented in research articles. However, journals or communities might have more specific standards.
Choosing where to publish your datasets can be problematic and time consuming. See below for Wiley’s recommended methods of choosing an appropriate data repository for your research:
In general, research data should be submitted to discipline-specific, community-recognized repositories where possible, or to general-purpose repositories if no suitable community resource is available. If your funder or target journal do not have specific data repository recommendations, researchers from all disciplines can consider generalist repositories such as Dryad, figShare, or Zenodo.
Data accessibility statements provide information about where the research data and other artefacts supporting the results reported in the paper can be found. Where applicable, links to the repository where the dataset(s) are publicly archived are included. Wiley’s data sharing policies either recommend or require (depending upon policy) the inclusion of a data accessibility statement as part of the manuscript. Some funders require data accessibility statements be included in publications, authors must confirm any funder-specific requirements.
Wiley is implementing the FORCE 11 Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles – this means that authors are required to include data citations as part of their reference list and Wiley journals require data to be cited in the same way as article, book, and web citations.
Assigning a persistent identifier to your research data enables other researchers to cite your data, as well your published research article. Formal citation in reference lists supports reproducibility, facilitates the tracking of data reuse, and may help recognize or credit individual’s contributions to research and the work put into collecting, managing, and archiving data.
We recommend the format proposed by the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles:
We have altered our production and publication systems to process data citations. By adding [dataset] before the reference, our systems will recognize the citation appropriately. This additional tag will not be visible within the reference list of the published article. Readers will therefore enjoy the same benefits as for article citations, including the ability to easily navigate to where the work was cited in the article and quickly access the referenced material via direct links.
Wiley is encouraging all journals to adopt one of the standard research data sharing policies. All Wiley journals are implementing the data citation policy. You can access the list of journals and the policies they support at the Author Compliance Tool.
The minimum requirement of all policy types is to encourage data sharing; only those journals that have adopted the strongest level of data sharing policy mandate data sharing for every article. And, all policy types recognize that some data (such as data about identifiable human research participants), can’t be openly shared. You can access the list of journals and the policies they support at the Author Compliance Tool.
Exceptions to policy and restrictions on data availability are granted for reasons associated with the protection of human privacy, issues such as biosafety, and/or to respect terms of use for data obtained under license from third parties. Confidential data, e.g., human subject or patient data, should always be anonymized, or permission to share should be obtained in advance. If in doubt, authors should seek counsel from their institution’s ethics committee.
Where data are held in repositories, the choice of license will be determined by the terms of the repository. Some funders also have specific license requirements. Authors are responsible for reviewing the license agreements during submission.
Researchers should ideally decide how their research data is made available, but can only share data they are legally permitted to share or make public. In general, a license that enables the maximum potential for reuse, such as one of the Creative Commons licenses (CC-0, -BY, -BY-NC), is preferred. It is the responsibility of the author depositing data to confirm they have the necessary rights to submit data to a repository or journal.
Authors are encouraged to make research data available as early as possible, in accordance with community practice and as required by funder and institutional policy. Practice varies by field, and embargoes on data sharing are common practice in some communities so, in the absence of funder mandate, the relevant community standards should prevail. Only the “mandates data sharing” policy requires data sharing as a condition for publication and requires data sharing upon acceptance by the journal – authors should confirm the policy of their target journal prior to submission.
Wiley does not generally consider research data deposit as prior publication, however individual journal policies may vary and we recommend that researchers contact their chosen journal’s Editor if they are in doubt.
If your data is available during peer review, it may be accessed by reviewers to help in their evaluation. Journal Editors likewise may use available data just as they would any other available resources.
Conceivably, yes, if the reviewers and Editor(s) feel there are discrepancies between the data files (if checked) and the figures, tables, and graphs in your article.
An Editor may choose to reject your manuscript if you are unwilling (rather than unable) to comply with the data sharing policy of the journal in question. View your chosen journal’s data policy information on our Author Compliance Tool.