Data Availability
Policies / Data Availability
Data Availability
Data-availability statements, repositories and the responsible sharing of health data.
Openness about the data behind published findings strengthens confidence in research and supports its verification and reuse. BJHMR encourages authors to share the data underlying their results to the fullest extent that participant consent, confidentiality, ethics and law permit, recognising that health data often require particular protection.
Data-availability statement
Each research article should include a Data Availability Statement explaining whether, and how, the data supporting the results may be accessed. Where data cannot be shared — for reasons of participant confidentiality, consent limits, ethical restriction or law — the statement should say so and explain why. Typical formulations include:
| ▸ | “The de-identified data supporting this study are openly available in [repository] at [DOI or URL].” |
| ▸ | “The data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request, subject to ethical approval.” |
| ▸ | “The data are not publicly available owing to participant-privacy and consent restrictions.” |
Responsible sharing of health data
Where sharing is appropriate, deposit de-identified data in a recognised, citable repository that issues a persistent identifier, and cite it in the reference list. Data must be effectively anonymised or de-identified before sharing, and shared only in accordance with participant consent, the approving ethics committee’s conditions and applicable data-protection law. For clinical trials, authors are encouraged to describe their plans for sharing individual participant data, consistent with the ICMJE.
Funding disclosure
Authors must also state all sources of funding for the research, including grant numbers and the funder’s role, or confirm that the research received no specific funding.
