Publishers across all disciplines might ask you for a data access statement (sometimes called a data availability statement). A data access statement explains where people can find the research data that supports your publication and how to access it.
Who needs to write one
You must include a data access statement if:
- you are funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) or any of its councils
- you are publishing a research article, and your publisher requires one
Even if there is no data, or you cannot share the data (such as for ethical or legal reasons), you still need to explain this in your statement.
This requirement applies to all disciplines, including:
- Arts and Humanities
- Social Sciences
- Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine (STEMM)
Why you need to write one
You need to write a data access statement to:
- meet funder and publisher requirements – it’s mandatory for UKRI-funded research
- make your data FAIR - helping others find, access and reuse your data because you've described it well and indicated where it is, even if it cannot be open
- support transparency and reproducibility in research
- comply with the University of Cambridge Research Data Management policy framework
What to include
Your statement should:
- say where the data is (this is usually a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) in a data repository or other permanent link)
- explain how people can access it, and under what terms (such as a licence for reuse)
- give reasons if you cannot share the data
You should also include a full citation for your dataset in your publication’s reference list.
Where to include your statement
You should include your data access statement in your research article, either:
- in the main text, often in a section called ‘Data availability’ or ‘Data access’
- as a footnote or endnote, depending on the journal style
- in supplementary information, if the journal allows this
Some journals have specific requirements or preferred formats, so always check the publisher’s guidelines first.
If you’re submitting to a repository or preprint server, they may also ask for a Data Access Statement.
The Data Access Statement is usually requested during the submission process. Always aim to include one unless you're sure it's not needed.
Example statements
Here are some example statements that you can use or adapt. Replace the italic text with your own details. There are sometimes multiple options for some of the scenarios.
If your data is openly available
- "Additional data related to this publication are available at the xxxxx data repository at the following link (add the url to your data - preferably this will be a permanent identifier such as a DOI)."
- "All data accompanying this publication are available within the publication."
- "Additional research data supporting this publication are available as 'supplementary files' at the journal's website: (add the link to supplementary files)."
- "Multiple datasets freely available at various data repositories were used in the publication. All of them are referred to in the 'References' section of the paper."
If your data has ethical constraints
- "Overall statistical analysis of research data underpinning this publication is available at the xxxxx data repository: (add the url to your data, e.g. the DOI). Additional raw data related to this publication cannot be openly released; the raw data contains transcripts of interviews, which were impossible to anonymise."
- "Processed, qualitative data from this study are available at the xxxxx data repository: (add the url to your data, e.g. the DOI). Additional raw data related to this publication cannot be openly released; the raw data contains transcripts of interviews, but none of the interviewees consented to data sharing."
If your data is commercial or confidential
- "Additional data related to this publication contain xxxxx (describe the data), but these data cannot be released publicly. The data contain confidential information, protected by a non-disclosure agreement (enter the agreement number if available) with (enter the company name if possible). This data can be made available, subject to a non-disclosure agreement."
If rights held elsewhere prevent sharing your data
- "The raw data used in this study cannot be shared as the copyright is held elsewhere (e.g. of digital images, maps, texts, audio-visual material). Instead, metadata describing the raw data has been created as part of this study and are available at the xxxxx data repository at the following link (add the url to your data - preferably this will be a permanent identifier such as a DOI)."
- "This study involved the secondary analysis of pre-existing datasets. All datasets are referred to in the text and cited in the reference list. Licensing restrictions prevent sharing of these data in association with this study."
If it is too expensive to share your data
- "The publication is accompanied by a representative sample from the experiment (see xxxxx - add the url to your data - preferably this will be a permanent identifier such as a DOI). Detailed procedures explaining how this representative sample was selected, and how this experiment can be repeated, are provided in xxxxx (e.g. Materials and Methods section, publicly available protocol [include link to protocol, e.g. DOI]). Additional raw data underlying this publication consist of (describe the data that is too sizeable to share). These additional files are not shared online due to their size (e.g. sample images of xxxGB/image); public sharing of these images is not cost-efficient, and the experiment can be easily reproduced."
If your data is non-digital or not readily available
- "Supporting data for this publication are available at the xxxxx data repository (add the url to your data - preferably this will be a permanent identifier such as a DOI); however, data are available only in a proprietary file format xxxxx (name of the file format), which can be opened only with xxxxx software."
- "Additional supporting data for this publication consists of xxxxx (describe the number of samples and what they consist of). Samples are stored at a safe location at xxxxx (e.g. name your department/institution), and can be made available on request, subject to the requestor travelling to xxxxx (location of the samples)."
- "This study involved examination of physical records (e.g. of museum objects) held at (e.g. name of museum/institute). Relevant accession/reference numbers and associated information are provided in documentation archived at the xxxxx data repository at the following link (add the url to your data - preferably this will be a permanent identifier such as a DOI)."
If your article has no data
- "This is a review article and generated no new data. All data underlying this study are cited in the references."