Research data policies

• Institutional policies

  University of St Andrews policies related to research data.

  The University of St Andrews has policies that affect the management and publication of research data.

  Institutional policies

  • Research data management policy
  • Data protection policy
  • Intellectual property
  • Copyright

  Guidance on external policies and regulations

  • Research involving humans and research involving animals
  • Research integrity
  • Freedom of information (FOI)
  • Environmental information

• Journals' research data policies

  Journals' research data policies regarding data underpinning publications.

  Journals are introducing policies requiring sharing of research data as a condition of publication. Some journals also ask authors to make data available for peer-review. If you are planning to publish, the RDM team can help you check if the journal you have chosen has a data policy. Some examples are:

  • BMJ Open
    Encourage the inclusion in the manuscript of a data-sharing statement explaining what additional data are available and how to access them.
    
    
  • Nature
    Have a policy on the availability of data, materials, code and protocols, which requests that authors make data available during the review process and includes instructions on the inclusion of data access statements and mandates for the deposit of certain datasets in specific repositories. See also an editorial announcement in September 2018 on sharing raw data at an early stage with editors and reviewers.
    
    
  • PLOS
    Have a Data Availability policy that requires authors to deposit their data in a suitable repository (with a few exceptions) and to include a data availability statement in the manuscript. Withholding of data could result in the rejection of the manuscript.
    
    
  • SAGE
    Some of the SAGE journals (e.g. Research and Politics) have a Replication Policy that requires authors to make their datasets publicly available via a third-party repository.
    
    
  • Science
    Require that large datasets be deposited in a suitable database before publication and that accession numbers or access links are included in the manuscript. Science also provides a list of approved databases for deposit.
    
    
  • Springer Nature
    Have introduced four different levels of research data policies, from data sharing being encouraged (Level 1) to data sharing being a condition for publication (Level 4).
    
    
  • Taylor & Francis
    In 2018 Taylor & Francis introduced new policies on data sharing that encourage authors to deposit data in a repository and include a data availability statement in the publication.
    
    
  • The Royal Society
    Have an open data policy that states that authors have to make data, code and research material publicly available as a condition of publication and expects that all relevant data and materials must be available at the initial submission stage as supplementary material or hosted in an external repository with a link included in the manuscript.
    
    
  • JACS
    Authors are strongly encouraged to provide data for all new and/or key compounds described in a manuscript submission.

• Funders' research data policies

  Funders' open data policies

  The Concordat for Open Research Data has been developed by a multi-stakeholder group consisting of researchers, universities, funders and publishers, the British Library and Universities UK. It sets out 10 clear and practical principles for working with research data and assumes that open research data are those research data that can be freely accessed, used, modified, and shared.

  The principles in the Concordat recognise that research data should, wherever possible, be made openly available for use by others in a manner consistent with relevant legal, ethical, disciplinary and regulatory frameworks and norms, and with due regard to the costs involved.

  They are designed to help the research community to demonstrate that they:

  • are acting in an appropriate manner concerning research data,
  • conform to all ethical, legal and professional obligations relevant to their work,
  • nurture a research environment that makes data open wherever practical and affordable,
  • use transparent, robust and fair processes to make decisions concerning data openness,
  • have appropriate mechanisms in place to provide assurances as to the integrity of their research data, and
  • recognise the importance of data citation and credit acknowledgement.

  All UK research councils, the Wellcome Trust, HEFCE, HEFCW, as well as Cancer Research UK, the Scottish Funding Council and the Natural History Museum have subscribed to the Concordat and expect their members and grant holders to commit to its principles.

  See more on funder specific policies.