Practicing what we preach: developing a data sharing policy for the Journal of the Medical Library Association

Abstract

Providing access to the data underlying research results in published literature allows others to reproduce those results or analyze the data in new ways. Health sciences librarians and information professionals have long been advocates of data sharing. It is time for us to practice what we preach and share the data associated with our published research. This editorial describes the activity of a working group charged with developing a research data sharing policy for the Journal of the Medical Library Association.

Announcing the Journal of the Medical Library Association’s data sharing policy

“…Starting October 1, 2019, authors of Original Investigation and Case Report manuscripts are required to deposit the de-identified data associated with their manuscripts in a repository and include a “Data Availability Statement” in their manuscripts describing where and how the data can be accessed. This data sharing policy was carefully developed by a JMLA working group [4] by soliciting feedback from authors of recently published JMLA articles, reviewing the data sharing policies of other journals, tracking the progress of the Research Data Alliance Data Policy Standardisation and Implementation Interest Group [5], and seeking feedback from the Medical Library Association (MLA) Board of Directors and other key constituents.…”

“…Some library journals, including the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication and Journal of eScience Librarianship , encourage authors to make their data available to others but do not make it a requirement. Because the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) editorial team thinks it is time to “practice what we preach” [4], the JMLA is taking a step forward and implementing a firm data sharing policy to increase the rigor and reproducibility of published research, enable data reuse, and promote open science.…”

Curadoria de dados de pesquisa em repositórios de ensaios clínicos: uma revisão de escopo | Curating research data in clinical trial repositories: a scoping review

“…Esse plano deve contemplar o depósito, a curadoria e o compartilhamento público dos dados gerados, para que seja possível a sua reutilização em novas pesquisas. Read et al (2018) afirmam que, alguns periódicos revisados por especialistas, como o PLOS ONE, assumiram a responsabilidade de exigir que os autores compartilhem seus dados caso queiram publicar nesses periódicos. Enquanto outros periódicos, como o New England Journal of Medicine, cederam às preocupações de suas comunidades de pesquisa em torno de compartilhamento de dados e liberou diretrizes de compartilhamento de dados menos rigorosas (Read et al, 2018).…”

The state of the journal: the Journal of the Medical Library Association in 2020

“…To increase the rigor and reproducibility of research, enable data reuse, and promote open science, JMLA instituted a data sharing policy in 2019 that requires authors of original investigations, case reports, and special papers to place their underlying data in a repository and include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript [3,4]. This step forward served to make JMLA the first journal in librarianship to adopt a firm data sharing policy.…”