Data Sharing Policy

1. Policy Statement

ZIJEn supports the principles of Open Science, research transparency, reproducibility, and responsible data sharing. Authors are encouraged to make the research data, materials, instruments, protocols, software, and other supporting resources underlying their published findings openly available whenever ethically, legally, and practically possible.

The journal recognizes that sharing research data enhances the credibility, verification, reuse, and impact of scholarly work while promoting scientific integrity and public trust.

2. Scope of Research Data

Research data may include, but are not limited to:

Quantitative datasets
Qualitative datasets
Survey instruments and questionnaires
Interview transcripts (where ethically permissible)
Observation records
Statistical analysis files
Computer code, software, or scripts
Images, audio, and video files
Supporting documentation and metadata

3. Data Availability Statement Requirement

All research articles submitted to ZIJEn must include a Data Availability Statement (DAS) before the References section.

The statement should clearly describe:

Whether data are available;
Where data can be accessed;
Conditions for access;
Reasons for any restrictions on access.

Articles without a Data Availability Statement may be returned to authors for revision before peer review.

4. Data Sharing Options

Authors may choose one of the following data-sharing approaches:

A. Openly Available Data

The datasets supporting the findings of this study are openly available in [Repository Name] at [URL/DOI].

B. Data Available Upon Reasonable Request

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

C. Restricted Data

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to ethical, legal, privacy, confidentiality, or institutional restrictions but may be available from the corresponding author subject to approval.

D. Third-Party Data

The data used in this study were obtained from a third party and are subject to licensing restrictions. Data are available from [Source] with permission.

E. No New Data Generated

No new data were generated or analyzed in this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this article.

5. Recommended Data Repositories

Authors are encouraged to deposit datasets in recognized repositories such as:

Open Science Framework (OSF)
Zenodo
Figshare
Harvard Dataverse
Institutional Repositories
Subject-Specific Repositories

Where possible, datasets should receive a persistent identifier (e.g., DOI).

6. Ethical and Legal Considerations

ZIJEn acknowledges that certain data cannot be shared openly due to:

Personal privacy concerns;
Confidentiality agreements;
Ethical review board restrictions;
Community-based participatory research agreements;
Legal or regulatory requirements;
Intellectual property considerations.

In such cases, authors must clearly explain the restrictions in the Data Availability Statement.

7. Data Citation

Datasets that support published findings should be formally cited in the reference list whenever possible.

Data citations should include:

Creator(s)
Year
Dataset title
Repository name
Persistent identifier (DOI or URL)

8. Editorial Assessment

Editors and reviewers may request access to research data during the peer-review process when necessary to evaluate the validity, reliability, or reproducibility of the research findings.

Failure to provide requested data without reasonable justification may result in rejection of the manuscript.

9. Exceptions

The decision to accept or reject a manuscript will not be based solely on whether data are publicly shared. However, authors must provide a transparent explanation regarding the availability of data.

10. Policy Review

This policy may be updated periodically to align with international best practices in scholarly publishing, open science principles, COPE recommendations, and DOAJ requirements.