Policies regarding public availability of published research data in pediatrics journals

Abstract

Sharing research data is an increasingly necessary requirement for the advancement of science. The goal of this paper is twofold. First, to analyze the policies on openness in sharing scientific research data in a sample of pediatric journals and to determine whether there is any correlation with a journal’s impact factor; second, to determine if there have been changes in the opening policies from 2013 to 2016. Journals included in the Pediatrics area of the Journal Citation Reports were used for the analysis, with reference to the instructions to authors published on the journals’ websites. These instructions were revised in 2012 and in 2016. The majority of pediatric journals advise authors to deposit their data but do not provide specific instructions on how to do so. No correlation was found between the value of the impact factor of the journals and their open data policies. Deposit policies vary among publishing entities, with predominantly PubMed Central and repositories of clinical trials among those suggested for data deposit. Most pediatric journals recommend that authors deposit their data in a repository, but they do not provide clear instructions for doing so. No correlation was found between the value of a journal’s impact factor and the availability of open data. Policies regarding deposit in specific repositories vary among publishing entities, with PubMed Central and various clinical trial repositories being those primarily suggested for deposit.