Policy implementation is one way for funders, publishers, and institutions to encourage and require data sharing.

Funder Requirements

Many funding agencies require formal data management and/or sharing plans as part of their granting process. Each funding agency has specific requirements so be sure to check for your particular grant.

Federal

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Foundations/Organizations

  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Research Policies: Requires publications to contain sufficient information about their experimental methods and procedures, and make available data, software, and tangible research materials. This is designed to enable other scientists to reproduce and extend the results of all publications on which the HHMI laboratory head is an author.
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Open Access Policy: Includes an Open Access policy that enables the unrestricted access and reuse of all peer-reviewed published research funded, in whole or in part, by the foundation, including any underlying data sets.

Publisher & Journal Requirements

Increasingly, journals are adopting the Joint Data Archiving Policy as shown below. Check the Instructions to Authors for details on how to handle associated data files before submitting a manuscript to any journal.

Authors will often need to include in their article a statement detailing where the supporting data can be found, typically called a "Data Availability Statement."

  • How to Write a Data Availability Statement (PDF): Nice resources from F1000Research on writing a clear DAS for various data sharing mechanisms.
  • Nature: A condition of publication in a Nature Portfolio journal is that authors are required to make materials, data, code, and associated protocols promptly available to readers without undue qualifications.
  • Science: Submissions must indicate where all data underlying the study are available or will be deposited, and whether there are any restrictions on data availability such as an MTA.
  • BMC: Submission of a manuscript to a BMC journal implies that materials described in the manuscript, including all relevant raw data, will be freely available to any scientist wishing to use them for non-commercial purposes, without breaching participant confidentiality.
  • PLOS: PLOS journals require authors to make all data necessary to replicate their study’s findings publicly available without restriction at the time of publication.

Harvard-Specific Guidelines

Institutional policies and procedures, which include guidelines, protocols, and standards, are fundamental to research data management. It is important that researchers do their due diligence and review their organization’s policies around data.

Review all applicable Research Policies & Compliance for Harvard researchers.