The open exchange of information and ideas is critical to scientific progress and ACS’ mission of improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry. ACS Publications’ portfolio of journals offer the highest levels of rigor in the review and publication of scientific articles and research data. Transparency and the open availability of research data are essential to enhancing both scientific progress and the public trust of those research results.
ACS strongly endorses The FAIR Data Principles and believes that where ethically and legally feasible, all research data should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. ACS supports the Center for Open Science’s Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines, the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles, and the STM Brussels Declaration. ACS is a member of the Research Data Alliance. Through engagement with these community initiatives, we strive to promote best practices in research data availability and to bring those best practices to its community of researchers and journal authors to help improve the execution, communication, and reproducibility of science.
Open availability of research data offers the following benefits:
For authors of ACS journal articles
- Open availability of data makes the related research more trustworthy and enhances scientific reputation.
- Research funders are increasingly recognizing data as a valuable research output.
- Making research data available and citable offers greater opportunity for the impact of research to be recognized.
For readers and the research community
- Open data better allows researchers to reproduce and compare reported results.
- Greater transparency makes research results and the work of scientists more trustworthy.
- Making data available for reuse creates efficiencies in the research process, allowing greater potential for further scientific and economic development.
ACS Research Data Policy
Where ethically and legally feasible, all ACS journals strongly encourage authors to make the research data underlying their articles publicly available at the time of publication. For the purposes of this policy, research data is defined as materials and information used in the experiments that enable the validation of the conclusions drawn in the article. This includes primary data produced by the authors for the study being reported, secondary data reused or analyzed by the authors for the study, and any other materials necessary to reproduce or replicate the results. To ensure data accessibility, we encourage the use of open licenses for reuse of data, such as Creative Commons CC BY. You can learn more about standard reuse licenses at the Open Access Licensing Options page on the ACS Publications website.
Our data policy is deployed at one of the four levels described below. Each ACS journal will independently determine the level of policy required that reflects the needs of their specific communities. Because of the diversity of research data and the many field-specific differences, each journal may also have field-specific requirements for the open availability of particular data types, and authors should refer to the specific journal’s Author Guidelines for information on data requirements.
| POLICY LEVEL | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encourages Data Sharing | X | X | X | X |
| Encourages Data Availability Statement | X | X | X | X |
| Requires Data Availability Statement | X | X | X | |
| Requires Data Sharing | X | X | ||
| Requires Peer Review of Data | X |
Exceptions
Exceptions to data availability requirements or embargoes delaying data release are available where legal or ethical issues prevent immediate public sharing. This includes data that may reveal personal information of research subjects, data where informed consent for public sharing was not granted, and other legitimate restrictions. In such cases, please contact the relevant journal editorial office to disclose the rationale and request an exception.
Data Availability Statements
A Data Availability Statement should describe the availability of the data underlying the conclusions drawn in the research article and provide a means of access, where applicable, by linking to the data, preferably through the use of a persistent identifier such as a DOI or an Accession Number assigned by a data repository. The Data Availability Statement should be included in the manuscript under the Associated Content heading with the Supporting Information.
Although submission of data as part of an article’s Supporting Information is acceptable, authors are encouraged to submit data in a format that can be most easily accessed and reused. ACS encourages authors to provide machine-readable data and to follow the FAIR Data Principles.
For more information on Data Availability Statements, please see the FAQ section.
Data Citation
ACS supports the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles, and data must be cited in the same manner as research articles, books, and other resources. Where the data used to support the conclusions in the research article are publicly available, authors are required to cite the data in the text of the manuscript and include a full citation to the data in the references list of the article.
Data citations should follow the format below, as noted in the ACS Style Quick Guide:
Examples:
Arienzo, M.; Harrold, Z.; Collins, M.; Davidson, J.; Bai, X.; Sukumaran, S.; Umek, J.
A Peristaltic Pump and Filter-Based Method for Aqueous Microplastic Sampling and Analysis.
Dryad. 2022. DOI: 10.5061/dryad.12jm63xz4.
Ost, A. D.; Wu, T.; Höschen, C.; Mueller, C. W.; Wirtz, T.; Audinot, J.-N. 4D Surface
Reconstructions to Study Microscale Structures and Functions in Soil Biogeochemistry.
Figshare. American Chemical Society, 2021. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c02971.s002.
Alboqami, F.; van Oudenhoven, V. C. O.; Ahmed, U.; Zahid, U.; Emwas, A.-H.; Sarathy, S.
M.; Jameel, A. G. A. A Methodology for Designing Octane Number of Fuels Using
Genetic Algorithms and Artificial Neural Networks. GitHub. 2022.
https://github.com/FaisalAlbaqami/Gasoline-composition-prediction.
Choosing an Appropriate Data Repository
Where possible, ACS recommends authors deposit data in discipline-specific, community-recognized repositories or in generalist repositories when no community resource is available. Authors should consult the journal Author Guidelines for specific repository recommendations or requirements for data types.
ACS strongly encourages authors to select a repository that issues a persistent unique identifier, such as a DOI or an Accession Number. This will help facilitate the discoverability and citation of deposited data. Repositories that focus on research data, are managed by a sustainable institution (such as a professional society or university), have a plan for long-term storage of and access to the data, and provide clear information about terms of use of the data are preferred.
To find an appropriate repository, authors may refer to re3data.org and FAIRsharing.org for information on available repositories, their certification status, and services offered.
Author Support
If you have questions about the ACS Research Data Policy, writing a Data Availability Statement, data citation, or other research data questions, please contact researchdata@acs.org. If you have questions about a specific ACS journal’s data policy, please refer to the Author Guidelines for that journal.
Data Availability Statement - Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Data Availability Statement, and why am I being asked to provide one in my manuscript?
As part of its ACS Research Data Policy, which is based upon FAIR Data Principles, ACS strongly encourages authors submitting manuscripts to its portfolio of journals to make all research data underlying their manuscripts publicly available. A Data Availability Statement is a formal way within your manuscript to indicate how others can access your research data to aid them in repeating experiments, designing new experiments, and helping advance scientific research.
Is a Data Availability Statement required for publication?
ACS is conducting a Data Availability Statement pilot program with Organic Letters, The Journal of Organic Chemistry, and ACS Organic & Inorganic Au. A Data Availability Statement is required for these three journals during the pilot program for all peer-reviewed articles. Manuscripts submitted to these journals prior to September 15, 2022 will not be included in the pilot. A Data Availability Statement is not required for other ACS journals at this time but is highly encouraged. With results from the pilot program, ACS will decide on future requirements for all its journals.
Is a Data Availability Statement required for every article?
A Data Availability Statement is required for all peer-reviewed articles in Organic Letters, The Journal of Organic Chemistry, and ACS Organic & Inorganic Au. A Data Availability Statement is not required for the following non-peer-reviewed articles, but is encouraged if new data are being presented: Addition/Correction, Editorial, Expression of Concern, or Retraction.
What does a Data Availability Statement look like, and where should the Data Availability Statement be located within the manuscript?
The Data Availability Statement is a note in the Associated Content section of your manuscript. Please include the Data Availability Statement within the text of your manuscript following the main text/conclusions. It will appear in the published article, under the Associated Content heading and before the Supporting Information statement. Below is an example:
What information is needed in the Data Availability Statement?
At a minimum, the statement should indicate that all data underlying the study are available in the published article or its Supporting Information. If additional data are available and not included with the article, authors should indicate how to access the data, for example, by including the names and hyperlinks to repositories where the data may be found, such as a discipline-specific or community-recognized repository, or generalist repository when no other resource is available. See examples of Data Availability Statements, as well as guidance on selecting a repository.
Data repositories supporting peer-reviewed publications generally should meet the following criteria:
Ensure long-term persistence and preservation of datasets (minimum of 5 years after publication)
Be supported by a research community or research institution
Provide deposited datasets with stable and persistent identifiers, e.g., Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)
Allow access to data without restrictions
Provide clear terms of data use and data access (or license) on each dataset landing page
Do I need to cite my externally shared data?
Yes. ACS supports the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles, and data that is found outside the article or Supporting Information should be cited in the same manner as other resources: Authors are required to mention the data in the text and include a full citation in the reference list. See examples.
What about CIF data?
ACS has a formal procedure for submitting Crystallographic Information Files (CIFs), which are required for some journals. This procedure does not fall under the Data Availability Statement process: Authors should continue to follow the CIF procedure, which includes submitting information to CCDC prior to manuscript submission and providing CCDC deposition numbers with their manuscript when asked during online submission.
As an ACS author, what are my responsibilities when it comes to a Data Availability Statement?
Provide a Data Availability Statement at submission or during the revision process.
- Read ACS guidance on preparing a Data Availability Statement.
- Ensure all underlying data are available in the manuscript itself, in the Supporting Information, or openly available in a public repository with link(s) to the data.
- Mention the data in the text of the manuscript, and include a full citation to the data in the reference list. See examples.
Correspond with the assigned editor of the manuscript when data are not publicly available, and note which data are not available in the Data Availability Statement.
Revise the Data Availability Statement during the revision process if necessary.
Check the Data Availability Statement accuracy on galley proofs.
Where can I go if I have other questions?
If you have questions about the ACS Research Data Policy or Data Availability Statements, please email researchdata@acs.org. Also, please see the ACS Research Data Guidelines and individual journal ACS Author Guidelines for more information on data requirements.
