Research data guidelines

Data provides the core of your publication and is the foundation on which scientific, technical and medical knowledge is built. As a researcher, you are encouraged — and sometimes mandated — to store your research data and make it accessible and discoverable, so others can reuse it. Elsevier journals have different guidelines when it comes to research data, either encouraging or requiring you to take certain actions. Although much research data is disseminated as part of journal articles, a host of other data is not made available through article publication. These guidelines concern research data that often underlies, but exists outside of research articles. You can use the information below to understand the requirements of your chosen journal, so you can make informed choices about where and how to publish.

Research data guidelines for journals

Elsevier journals follow one of the options below. We recommend you read your chosen journal's guide for authors for details about which option the journal supports.

These are several ways you can share your data when you publish with Elsevier, which help you get credit for your work and make your data accessible and discoverable for your peers.

Option A: Research data deposit and citation

You are encouraged to:

• Deposit your research data in a relevant data repository

• Cite this dataset in your article

Option B: Research data deposit, citation and linking (or a Research Data Availability Statement)

You are encouraged to:

• Deposit your research data in a relevant data repository

• Cite and link to this dataset in your article

• (If this is not possible, make a statement explaining why research data cannot be shared)

Option C: Research Data deposit, citation and linking (or a Research Data Availability Statement)

You are required to:

• Deposit your research data in a relevant data repository

• Cite and link to this dataset in your article

• (If this is not possible, make a statement explaining why research data cannot be shared)

Option D: Research Data deposit, citation and linking

You are required to:

• Deposit your research data in a relevant data repository

• Cite and link to this dataset in your article

Option E: Research Data deposit, citation and linking (or a Research Data Availability Statement); Research Data peer reviewed prior to publication

You are required to:

• Deposit your research data in a relevant data repository

• Cite and link to this dataset in your article.

• Peer reviewers are asked to review the data prior to publication