Data Availability Policy

1. Introduction

The Journal of Global Research in Multidisciplinary Studies (JGRMS) is committed to promoting transparency, reproducibility, and integrity in scholarly research. Sharing research data enables other researchers to verify findings, reproduce results, and build upon published work.

JGRMS encourages authors to make the data supporting their published research available whenever it is legally, ethically, and practically possible.

This policy applies to all research articles published in the journal, while recognizing that data sharing practices may differ across disciplines.

2. What Is Research Data?

Research data refers to any material used to generate, support, or validate the findings reported in a manuscript.

Examples include:

  • Experimental measurements
  • Survey responses
  • Interview transcripts
  • Observational data
  • Clinical datasets
  • Laboratory records
  • Images and photographs
  • Audio and video recordings
  • Computer code and software
  • Algorithms
  • Statistical analysis files
  • Simulation outputs
  • Spreadsheets
  • Supplementary tables
  • Machine learning datasets

3. Data Availability

Authors are encouraged to make the data underlying their research publicly available whenever possible.

Data may be:

  • Included as supplementary files with the article.
  • Deposited in a recognized public repository.
  • Archived in an institutional repository.
  • Made available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.
  • Shared through discipline-specific data repositories.

If legal, ethical, privacy, confidentiality, or intellectual property restrictions prevent public sharing, authors should clearly explain the reasons.

4. Recommended Data Repositories

Authors are encouraged to deposit datasets in reliable repositories appropriate to their discipline.

Examples include:

  • Institutional repositories
  • Government repositories
  • Discipline-specific repositories
  • General-purpose repositories such as Zenodo, Figshare, Dryad, or Harvard Dataverse

Where possible, datasets should be assigned a persistent identifier (such as a DOI) to facilitate citation and long-term access.

5. Data Availability Statement

All research articles should include a Data Availability Statement immediately before the References section.

Examples include:

Publicly Available Data

Data Availability: The data supporting the findings of this study are publicly available in [Repository Name] at [DOI or URL].

Data Available Upon Request

Data Availability: The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Data Included Within the Article

Data Availability: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary materials.

Restricted Data

Data Availability: The data are not publicly available due to ethical, legal, privacy, or confidentiality restrictions but may be made available by the corresponding author upon reasonable request and subject to applicable approvals.

No New Data Created

Data Availability: No new data were created or analyzed in this study.

6. Sensitive and Confidential Data

Authors should not publicly disclose data that:

  • Could identify research participants without appropriate consent.
  • Contain confidential or proprietary information.
  • Are subject to legal or contractual restrictions.
  • Could compromise national security or public safety.
  • Are restricted by institutional or funding agreements.

Where data cannot be shared, authors should provide a clear explanation in the Data Availability Statement.

7. Human Participant Data

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical and privacy requirements.

Authors should:

  • Protect participant confidentiality.
  • Remove personal identifiers where appropriate.
  • Ensure informed consent covers any planned data sharing.
  • Comply with institutional, national, and international data protection requirements.

8. Code and Software

Authors are encouraged to share custom software, source code, scripts, workflows, and computational methods used in their research whenever possible.

Code may be deposited in:

  • Public code repositories
  • Institutional repositories
  • Supplementary files

Where software cannot be shared, authors should explain the reason.

9. Citation of Data

Datasets that contribute substantially to a study should be cited in the reference list in the same manner as other scholarly outputs.

Data citations should include, where available:

  • Creator(s)
  • Year
  • Dataset title
  • Repository
  • Version
  • Persistent identifier (DOI or accession number)

10. Editorial Review

Editors and reviewers may request access to research data when necessary to:

  • Verify research findings.
  • Clarify methods.
  • Evaluate reproducibility.
  • Investigate concerns regarding research integrity.

Authors should cooperate with reasonable requests while respecting legal and ethical obligations.

11. Responsibility of Authors

Authors are responsible for:

  • Ensuring the accuracy and integrity of shared data.
  • Obtaining permission to share data where required.
  • Providing complete and accurate Data Availability Statements.
  • Maintaining data in accordance with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

12. Exceptions

JGRMS recognizes that data sharing may not always be possible.

Legitimate reasons include:

  • Patient confidentiality.
  • Ethical restrictions.
  • Commercial confidentiality.
  • Intellectual property protection.
  • National security considerations.
  • Legal or contractual obligations.

Authors should clearly explain any restrictions in the manuscript.

13. Corrections

If errors are identified in shared datasets after publication, authors should promptly notify the Editorial Office so that appropriate corrections or updates can be made.

14. Policy Review

This Data Availability Policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure alignment with evolving best practices in research transparency and responsible scholarly publishing.

Recommended Data Availability Statements

Option 1 – Open Data

Data Availability: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are openly available in [Repository Name] at [DOI or URL].

Option 2 – Data on Request

Data Availability: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Option 3 – Included in Article

Data Availability: All relevant data supporting the findings of this study are included within the article and its supplementary materials.

Option 4 – Restricted Data

Data Availability: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to ethical, legal, or confidentiality restrictions but may be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to applicable approvals.

Option 5 – No Data Generated

Data Availability: No new datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

Contact

Questions regarding this Data Availability Policy may be directed to the Editorial Office using the contact information provided on the journal website.