Data Sharing Policy
Data Availability and Sharing Policy
Avicenna Journal of Medical Sciences (AJMS) supports responsible data sharing, transparency, reproducibility, and appropriate preservation of research data, while recognizing legitimate ethical, legal, contractual, and privacy-related restrictions.
Authors are expected to retain the data underlying their published findings and, where appropriate and feasible, make relevant research data available to editors, reviewers, and qualified researchers.
Data Availability Statement
All original research manuscripts should include a Data Availability Statement describing whether and how the data supporting the findings can be accessed.
Appropriate statements may include:
Publicly available data:
The data supporting the findings of this study are publicly available in [repository name] at [persistent identifier or accession number].
Available on reasonable request:
The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request, subject to applicable ethical and institutional requirements.
Restricted data:
The data are not publicly available because of participant confidentiality, ethical, legal, or institutional restrictions. Access may be considered subject to appropriate approvals and data-sharing agreements.
No new data generated:
No new datasets were generated or analyzed for this study.
Public Data Repositories
Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to deposit research data in a recognized disciplinary, institutional, or general-purpose repository that supports long-term preservation and provides a persistent identifier.
Where a repository is used, the manuscript should provide sufficient information to allow readers to identify and access the deposited dataset.
Human Participant Data
Data involving human participants must be shared in a manner consistent with:
- informed consent;
- ethics committee or Institutional Review Board approval;
- applicable privacy and data-protection requirements;
- institutional policies; and
- relevant legal obligations.
Participant confidentiality must be protected. Personally identifiable information should not be made publicly available unless appropriate consent and legal authorization have been obtained.
Where data cannot be fully anonymized or openly shared, authors should clearly explain the applicable restrictions.
Clinical Trial Data
For clinical trials, authors should provide an appropriate data-sharing statement consistent with applicable ethical requirements and recognized international recommendations.
The statement should indicate, where applicable:
- whether individual participant data will be shared;
- what data will be available;
- whether supporting documents such as the study protocol or statistical analysis plan will be shared;
- when the data will become available;
- for how long the data will remain available;
- the criteria for access; and
- how requests should be submitted.
Sensitive and Restricted Data
AJMS does not require authors to make data publicly available where sharing would:
- compromise participant confidentiality or privacy;
- violate informed consent;
- breach ethical approval conditions;
- contravene applicable law or regulation;
- violate legitimate contractual or institutional restrictions; or
- create unacceptable risks to individuals or communities.
Such restrictions should be described transparently in the Data Availability Statement.
Supporting Data During Editorial Review
Editors may request access to underlying or supporting data when necessary to evaluate the reliability, accuracy, or integrity of a submitted manuscript.
Authors should retain relevant research records and cooperate with reasonable editorial requests for verification, subject to ethical and legal restrictions.
Inability to provide supporting data when serious concerns arise may affect editorial consideration and may prompt further investigation.
Statistical Code, Software, and Analytical Materials
Where custom code, algorithms, software, questionnaires, protocols, analytical scripts, or other materials are necessary to reproduce the reported findings, authors are encouraged to make them available where legally and ethically permissible.
Any restrictions on access should be clearly stated.
Third-Party Data
Authors using data obtained from third parties are responsible for ensuring that they have appropriate permission or legal authority to use and publish analyses based on those data.
Where third-party licensing or contractual restrictions prevent redistribution, authors should explain how eligible researchers may obtain access directly from the original data provider.
Data Citation
Datasets that are publicly available and have a persistent identifier should be appropriately cited in the manuscript or reference list where relevant.
Authors should provide sufficient information to allow readers to locate the data supporting the published work.
Data Retention
Authors should retain research data and essential study records for an appropriate period in accordance with institutional, funder, ethical, disciplinary, and legal requirements.
AJMS may request relevant documentation after publication if concerns arise regarding the accuracy or integrity of the published work.
Data Integrity
Fabrication, falsification, inappropriate manipulation, selective misrepresentation, or intentional concealment of research data is inconsistent with AJMS standards of research integrity.
Concerns regarding data integrity will be handled in accordance with the journal’s Research and Publication Ethics Policy.
Editorial Discretion
The availability or non-availability of data will be considered in the context of the study design, ethical requirements, participant consent, applicable regulations, and disciplinary norms.
AJMS recognizes that responsible data sharing does not always mean unrestricted public access.
Policy Review
AJMS periodically reviews its data availability and sharing requirements to reflect evolving standards in research transparency, reproducibility, ethics, privacy, and scholarly publishing.
