Data Sharing & Availability
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal
Data Sharing & Availability
ASSRJ’s expectations for data-availability statements, repositories and transparency, with provision for confidential social-science data.
ASSRJ encourages openness and reproducibility. Sharing the data and materials underlying published findings strengthens trust in research and enables others to build on it, while respecting the confidentiality that much social-science research requires.
Data Availability Statement
Every research article should include a Data Availability Statement describing whether and how the data supporting the results can be accessed. Where data cannot be shared, the statement must explain why. Example statements:
| ▸ | “The data supporting the findings of this study are openly available in [repository] at [DOI/URL].” |
| ▸ | “The data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.” |
| ▸ | “The data are not publicly available due to confidentiality / ethical / legal restrictions.” |
Recommended practice
| ▸ | Deposit datasets in a recognised, citable repository that issues a persistent identifier (DOI), and cite the dataset in the reference list. General-purpose repositories (for example Zenodo, Figshare, the Open Science Framework or Harvard Dataverse) are suitable where no discipline-specific repository exists. |
| ▸ | Provide enough detail in the Methodology that the analysis could be reproduced. |
| ▸ | Where relevant, share analytical code and materials such as survey instruments and interview schedules. |
Confidential and personal data
Data sharing must never compromise participant confidentiality, consent terms or data-protection obligations. Personal data must be anonymised before sharing (see Research Ethics & Consent and the Privacy Policy).
Funding statement
Authors must also declare all sources of funding for the research, including grant numbers, or state that the research received no specific funding.
