Data Policy

Data Policy

Health Nexus is committed to promoting research transparency, reproducibility, and open science. Authors are expected to ensure that data supporting their findings are accurately reported, accessible, and appropriately documented.

1. Data Availability Statement (Mandatory)

All submissions must include a Data Availability Statement describing:

• Where the data supporting the findings can be accessed
• Conditions of access (open, restricted, or upon request)
• Repository name and persistent identifier (e.g., DOI), if applicable

Examples:

2. Data Sharing Requirements

Authors are strongly encouraged to:

• Deposit datasets in public, recognized repositories
• Provide persistent identifiers (e.g., DOI)
• Share sufficient data to allow replication and verification

Where possible, data should comply with the FAIR principles:

• Findable
• Accessible
• Interoperable
• Reusable

3. Recommended Repositories

Authors may use appropriate repositories based on discipline, such as:

• General repositories (e.g., Zenodo, Figshare)
• Domain-specific repositories (e.g., clinical trial registries, genomics databases)
• Institutional repositories

4. Sensitive and Restricted Data

If data cannot be publicly shared due to:

• Privacy or confidentiality concerns
• Ethical or legal restrictions

Authors must:

• Clearly state the reason for restriction
• Provide information on how data may be accessed under controlled conditions

5. Clinical and Human Subject Data

For studies involving human participants:

• Data sharing must comply with ethical approvals and informed consent
• Personal identifiers must be removed or anonymized
• Data protection regulations must be respected

6. Data Integrity and Reporting

Authors must ensure:

• Data are accurate, complete, and not manipulated
• Statistical methods are clearly described
• Raw data can be provided if requested during review

The journal reserves the right to request raw data or supporting materials during peer review or after publication.

7. Code and Software Availability

Where applicable, authors are encouraged to:

• Share analysis code, scripts, or software
• Provide access via repositories (e.g., GitHub, Zenodo)
• Ensure reproducibility of computational results

8. Data Citation

Datasets should be cited in the reference list where appropriate, including:

• Author(s)
• Dataset title
• Repository
• Year
• Persistent identifier (DOI)

9. Post-Publication Data Access

Authors are expected to:

• Maintain access to shared data after publication
• Respond to reasonable requests for additional data or clarification

10. Publisher and Journal Responsibilities

Panorama Scholarly Group (PSG) and Health Nexus:

• Encourage open data practices
• Support transparency and reproducibility
• Do not take responsibility for the storage of primary datasets unless explicitly stated

11. Compliance with Standards

12. Exceptions and Flexibility

The journal recognizes that:

• Not all data can be openly shared
• Flexibility is allowed where justified

However, lack of data availability must be clearly explained and scientifically justified.