Data Sharing Policy

SALT JSRH recognizes the pivotal role of data sharing and reproducibility in advancing reliable and trustworthy healthcare research. We are committed to fostering an open and transparent research environment that facilitates knowledge exchange, replication, and ultimately, better healthcare outcomes.

• Encouragement: We strongly encourage authors to share the data and other research materials supporting their results in a public repository and institutional repositories.
• Accessibility: Shared data should be provided in a readily accessible format, along with clear documentation and code necessary for analysis. This allows for independent verification and reuse by other researchers.
• Exceptions: We understand that certain legal or ethical restrictions might prevent data sharing in specific cases. Authors should clearly explain any limitations when submitting the manuscript.
• Data Availability Statement: All manuscripts should include a data availability statement outlining the data sharing policy and access procedures.

• Methodology transparency: We encourage authors to provide detailed descriptions of their research methods, including experimental design, data collection, and analysis procedures. This promotes transparency and facilitates replication.
• Code sharing: When relevant, sharing the code used for data analysis allows other researchers to verify and build upon the findings. This fosters collaboration and reproducibility.
• Negative results: We believe in publishing negative results alongside positive findings. This provides a more complete picture of the research and prevents bias towards confirming existing hypotheses.
• Open peer review: We are exploring options for open peer review models, where reviewers' identities and comments are made publicly available. This encourages transparency and accountability in the review process.

• Author education: We provide resources and workshops to educate authors about data sharing best practices, repository options, and ethical considerations.
• Reviewer training: We integrate data sharing and reproducibility guidelines into reviewer training, emphasizing the importance of these aspects for evaluating research quality.
• Collaboration with repositories: We actively engage with data repositories to ensure compatibility, user-friendliness, and long-term data preservation for researchers.
• Recognition and incentives: We are exploring ways to acknowledge and reward researchers who demonstrate exemplary data sharing and reproducibility practices.

By championing data sharing and reproducibility, SALT JSRH aims to:

• Increase the reliability and trustworthiness of healthcare research.
• Facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration among researchers.
• Promote the development of new tools and methods for improving healthcare outcomes.
• Empower patients and the public to make informed decisions about their health.

We believe that open science is the key to unlocking the full potential of healthcare research. We invite all authors and reviewers to join us in building a future where data is shared, methods are transparent, and research findings can be readily reproduced for the benefit of all.