ACS Publications is excited to announce a portfolio-wide Research Data Policy, effective September 30th, 2021. The policy, which was developed in partnership with ACS editors and outside experts, provides best practice recommendations for data citation, data availability statements, and the use of appropriate data repositories. The launch of this policy represents a critical step toward […]

ACS Publications is excited to announce a portfolio-wide Research Data Policy, effective September 30th, 2021. The policy, which was developed in partnership with ACS editors and outside experts, provides best practice recommendations for data citation, data availability statements, and the use of appropriate data repositories.

The launch of this policy represents a critical step toward ensuring that the results reported in our journals are verifiable, reproducible, and easily accessible to researchers. For authors publishing in ACS journals, making their data available and citable offers a greater opportunity for the research to be recognized and assists in meeting various funders’ requirements. For readers and the research community, having data available for review allows researchers to reproduce and compare reported results. It can also create efficiencies in the research process, providing greater potential for scientific and economic development.

The Research Data Policy will be shared on the ACS Publishing Center on September 30, 2021. Though the policy outlines four possible levels of compliance (see figure below), all ACS journals will start at level one, in which authors are encouraged – but not required – to share their data.

“I’m thrilled to promote open science through the broad adoption of the ACS Research Data Policy. This critical activity plays an important role in maintaining ACS Publications’ reputation as the most read, most cited, and most trusted publisher in science”, says Dr. Sarah Tegen, Senior Vice President, Journals Publishing Group. As data trends evolve, ACS plans to update this policy based on feedback from the scholarly publishing community.

To learn more about our new Research Data Policy, please visit the ACS Publishing Center.

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