Open Data Policy

At Forefront in Sociology & Political Sciences, we believe that open access to research data is vital for the advancement of science, enhancing the transparency, reproducibility, and credibility of research. Our Open Data Policy is designed to support the principles of open science by encouraging authors to share the data behind their research, ensuring that data can be accessed, reused, and verified by other researchers.

This policy reflects our commitment to fostering a culture of openness and accountability in the social sciences and political sciences, contributing to the credibility and reproducibility of research findings.

Principles of Open Data

  1. Transparency and Reproducibility:
    Sharing data allows other researchers to verify findings, replicate analyses, and build on existing research. This transparency promotes trust in published results and enhances the reliability of scholarly work.

  2. Advancement of Knowledge:
    Open data enables broader access to research, encourages collaboration, and allows the broader academic community to derive additional insights from shared data, accelerating the pace of scientific discovery.

  3. Ethical Responsibility:
    Providing open access to data fosters ethical research practices, ensuring that research is conducted and published with integrity, and that the public and scientific communities benefit from the work.

Open Data Requirements

Authors submitting manuscripts to Forefront in Sociology & Political Sciences are encouraged to make their research data publicly available, where possible and appropriate. The following guidelines outline the expectations for data sharing:

  1. Data Availability:
    Authors should make their underlying data publicly available by depositing it in a trusted and accessible repository, such as:

    • Institutional Repositories: Many universities and research institutions provide secure data repositories.
    • Disciplinary Repositories: Subject-specific repositories such as ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research), Harvard Dataverse, or Zenodo are excellent options for political science and sociology research.
    • Open Data Platforms: Platforms like OpenICPSR, Figshare, and Dryad allow for wide dissemination and public access to datasets.

  2. Data Citation:
    Authors should provide a clear and accurate citation for any datasets they have used in their research. If the data was created by the authors, a citation for the data should be provided in the manuscript and the corresponding data repository. We encourage authors to use a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for datasets, ensuring proper tracking and recognition of the data.

  3. Data Documentation:
    Authors should provide comprehensive documentation (e.g., README files, codebooks, metadata) that explains the structure, variables, and methodology of the dataset. This documentation ensures that others can understand and reuse the data properly.

  4. Data Privacy and Ethics:
    Authors must ensure that all data shared complies with ethical standards and respects participants' privacy. In cases where data contains sensitive information, personal identifiers, or confidential details, authors should either:

    • Redact sensitive information.
    • Use aggregated or anonymized datasets.
    • Obtain proper consent from participants or comply with legal and ethical guidelines (e.g., General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)).

    Forefront in Sociology & Political Sciences adheres to ethical standards for data privacy and ensures that shared data is handled responsibly.

  5. Data Sharing Exceptions:
    There may be legitimate reasons why certain data cannot be shared, including:

    • Confidentiality Agreements: If sharing the data would violate agreements with third parties.
    • Data Sensitivity: If the data contains sensitive personal or confidential information that cannot be anonymized or de-identified.
    • Lack of Feasibility: If the data is difficult or expensive to store and share due to technical or financial constraints.

    In these cases, authors should provide a clear explanation in the manuscript about why the data cannot be shared. The journal reserves the right to assess whether an exception is reasonable.

Data Sharing in Special Cases

  1. Qualitative Data:
    Qualitative research often involves complex, context-dependent data that may include personal narratives, interviews, or ethnographic observations. While sharing qualitative data is encouraged, we recognize that these types of data may require additional ethical considerations, including ensuring the anonymity and confidentiality of participants. Authors are encouraged to share qualitative data in a format that protects participants’ identities, such as through de-identified transcripts or anonymized case study materials.

  2. Restricted Data:
    In some cases, such as when working with highly sensitive or proprietary data, authors may be required to make the data available upon request rather than publicly. In these instances, authors should provide detailed instructions on how others can request access to the data, ensuring that these requests are handled in accordance with ethical guidelines.

Data Sharing and Journal Policy

  1. Linking to Data:
    Forefront in Sociology & Political Sciences encourages authors to provide direct links to publicly accessible data repositories where their data is hosted. This will be included in the final published article to promote transparency and facilitate access to the data.

  2. Data Availability Statement:
    All accepted manuscripts will be required to include a Data Availability Statement, which clearly outlines the location and accessibility of the data used in the research. This statement will indicate whether the data is available, where it can be accessed, any restrictions on the data, and the conditions under which the data can be reused.

    Examples of statements include:

    • "The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in [repository name] at [DOI or URL]."
    • "The data underlying this article cannot be made publicly available due to confidentiality restrictions, but are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author."
    • "Data sharing is not applicable to this article due to the nature of the research."

  3. Data Integrity:
    Authors are expected to ensure that the data they provide is accurate, complete, and free of errors. Any issues with the data identified after publication should be reported to the editorial office, where appropriate corrective measures will be taken (e.g., issuing a data correction or erratum).

Licensing and Reuse of Data

  1. Open Licenses:
    We encourage authors to deposit their data under an open license, such as a Creative Commons license (e.g., CC BY 4.0) that allows others to reuse and adapt the data, provided that proper attribution is given. By selecting an open license, authors contribute to the open science movement and help ensure that their data can be reused by other researchers and practitioners.

  2. Data Reuse:
    Datasets deposited in publicly accessible repositories can be freely accessed, downloaded, and reused by other researchers, provided that they adhere to the terms of the license specified by the authors. Any reuse of data should be properly cited according to the data repository’s citation guidelines.

Ethical Considerations and Compliance

  1. Ethical Approval:
    Authors must confirm that their research complies with ethical guidelines, including obtaining any necessary ethical approval or consent from participants before collecting or sharing data. This is especially important for research involving human subjects or sensitive data.

  2. Data Management Plans:
    Authors are encouraged to prepare a Data Management Plan (DMP) as part of their research project. A DMP outlines how data will be handled during and after the research project, including storage, sharing, and preservation procedures. The DMP should be included when submitting a manuscript, especially if it involves large-scale or complex data.

Conclusion

The Open Data Policy of Forefront in Sociology & Political Sciences aims to promote transparency, reproducibility, and the advancement of knowledge by encouraging authors to share their data in an accessible and ethical manner. By supporting open data practices, we contribute to the broader academic community's ability to verify, reuse, and build upon research findings.

If you have any questions about our Open Data Policy, or need assistance with data sharing or finding appropriate data repositories, please contact the Editorial Office at Email: prithivraj@scientificforefront.org