Data Sharing Policy

Data Sharing and Research Data Availability Policy

Avicenna Journal of Clinical and Translational Medicine

The Avicenna Journal of Clinical and Translational Medicine (AJCTM), published by Avicenna Medical Press (AMP), supports responsible research data sharing, transparent scientific reporting, and the reproducibility of published findings.

The journal encourages appropriate access to research data while respecting patient confidentiality, participant consent, intellectual property, ethical approvals, and applicable legal requirements.

1. General Principles

Research findings should be supported by accurate, reliable and appropriately documented data. Authors are responsible for the integrity of the datasets, analytical procedures and results presented in their manuscripts.

AJCTM encourages researchers to make supporting data available whenever this is ethically, legally and practically appropriate.

Public sharing of sensitive or identifiable human participant data is not required and must not occur where prohibited by ethical, legal or confidentiality obligations.

2. Data Availability Statement

All Original Research Articles must include a Data Availability Statement.

The statement should explain whether the data supporting the published findings are available, where they may be accessed, and any applicable restrictions.

Where relevant, authors should include:

• The name of the data repository or custodian
• A persistent identifier or repository URL
• The type of data available
• Conditions governing access
• Reasons for restrictions, where applicable
• Information about relevant supporting materials

Authors of other article types should provide a Data Availability Statement where their work involves original datasets or analyses.

3. Public Data Repositories

Authors are encouraged to deposit appropriate non-sensitive research data in established, trusted repositories that support persistent identification, appropriate metadata and long-term accessibility.

Examples of potentially suitable repositories include:

• Zenodo
• Harvard Dataverse
• Dryad
• Recognized institutional or discipline-specific repositories

Repository selection should reflect the nature of the data, access permissions, privacy protections, funder requirements and any applicable institutional policies.

4. Human Participant and Clinical Data

Research involving patients, clinical records, identifiable biological information or other sensitive participant data requires particular care.

Authors must not release identifiable participant information without appropriate legal authority and consent.

De-identification or anonymization must be appropriate to the dataset and the risk of re-identification.

Where public release is inappropriate, access may be restricted through an institutional data custodian, an approved repository, or a controlled data-access arrangement.

An explanation of applicable restrictions must be included in the Data Availability Statement.

5. Clinical Trial Data Sharing

Manuscripts reporting clinical trial results must include a data-sharing statement consistent with applicable International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations.

The statement must specify:

• Whether de-identified individual participant data will be shared
• Which data and supporting documents will be available
• When the data will become available and for how long
• Who may request access
• Permitted purposes and conditions of use
• The mechanism through which access may be requested or obtained

Where data will not be shared, this must be clearly stated rather than left undetermined.

For trials beginning participant enrollment on or after 1 January 2019, the clinical trial registration should include the required data-sharing plan. Relevant changes should be reflected in the registration record and published statement.

A data-sharing statement does not automatically require public release of individual participant datasets.

6. Supporting Materials and Reproducibility

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to make available study protocols, statistical analysis plans, questionnaires, data dictionaries, analytical code, and other documentation necessary to understand or reproduce their findings.

Supplementary files may be submitted through the journal's online submission system.

Confidential, proprietary or restricted materials must not be shared without the necessary permissions.

7. Data Access on Reasonable Request

Where publicly accessible data sharing is not feasible, authors may indicate that appropriately de-identified data are available upon reasonable request, subject to institutional approval, participant consent, and relevant data protection requirements.

Any such statement must reflect a genuine, practicable access arrangement rather than a commitment that cannot reasonably be fulfilled.

The responsible data custodian and access procedure should be identified where appropriate.

8. Data Ownership and Third-Party Restrictions

Authors must respect agreements relating to institutional ownership, collaborative research, data licensing and third-party datasets.

Researchers who use externally obtained data must acknowledge the original source and comply with applicable access and reuse conditions.

Data obtained through unauthorized access must not be submitted or distributed through the journal.

9. Data Retention and Editorial Verification

Authors should retain original research records and supporting materials according to relevant institutional, ethical, funder and legal requirements.

During editorial evaluation or post-publication investigation, AJCTM may request reasonable supporting documentation necessary to clarify questions about data integrity, analysis or reporting.

Any transfer of sensitive research information must follow appropriate confidentiality and security procedures.

10. Research Integrity and Data Misconduct

Fabrication, falsification, selective misrepresentation or inappropriate manipulation of research data is unacceptable.

Concerns about data integrity will be assessed in accordance with AJCTM's Research and Publication Ethics Policy and its procedures for corrections and retractions.

11. Examples of Data Availability Statements

These examples are illustrative. Authors must adapt their statements to the actual availability, custodianship and access conditions of their own research data.

12. Policy Guidance

This policy is informed by internationally recognized principles of research transparency and the ICMJE recommendations on clinical trial data sharing.

ICMJE Recommendations

13. Editorial Correspondence

Questions about data availability, repository selection or ethical restrictions may be directed to:

AJCTM Editorial Office
editor@ajctm.org