Data Sharing & Availability Policy

The Celebes Nursing Journal (CNJ) supports transparency, reproducibility, and responsible stewardship of research data. Authors are encouraged to make the data supporting their published findings available whenever this is ethically, legally, and practically appropriate.
Data sharing does not require authors to disclose identifiable personal information, confidential clinical information, commercially sensitive material, or data whose disclosure is prohibited by participant consent, an ethics committee, an institution, a data provider, or applicable law.
This policy is informed by the FAIR Principles—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable—and relevant guidance concerning responsible research-data management and publication ethics.

1. Scope and General Principles
This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to CNJ. All manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement appropriate to the article type and the data used or generated.
For empirical research, the statement must describe whether and how the data supporting the findings can be accessed. For manuscripts that did not generate or analyze research data, including some Editorials, Perspectives, Concept Analysis, and Theory Development articles, authors may state that data availability is not applicable.
For the purposes of this policy, research data may include, where applicable:

• De-identified or appropriately anonymized datasets supporting the reported findings
• Processed or aggregated data
• Data-extraction files used in evidence syntheses
• Metadata, codebooks, and data dictionaries
• Survey instruments or research tools, subject to copyright or licensing restrictions
• Statistical analysis code or scripts
• Protocols, analysis plans, and related documentation
• Other materials necessary to understand or verify the reported findings

The requirement to provide a Data Availability Statement does not mean that all data must be made publicly available. The appropriate level of access depends on ethical approval, participant consent, confidentiality, legal requirements, contractual obligations, data ownership, and the nature of the data.

2. Data Availability Statement
Every manuscript must include a clear and accurate Data Availability Statement in the section specified by the official CNJ Manuscript Template.
The statement should identify, as applicable:

• Whether data were generated or analyzed
• Where the supporting data are available
• The repository name and persistent identifier, such as a DOI or other stable link
• Whether access is open, restricted, embargoed, available on reasonable request, or unavailable
• Any conditions or procedures governing access
• The reason data cannot be shared publicly, where applicable
• Whether relevant materials are included in the article or supplementary files

Examples of Data Availability Statements
Openly available data:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are available in the [repository name] at [persistent identifier or DOI].”

Data included in the article:
“All data supporting the findings of this study are included in the article and its supplementary materials.”

Restricted or controlled access:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are not publicly available because they contain information that could compromise participant privacy. De-identified data may be available through a controlled-access procedure, subject to ethics approval, institutional authorization, and an appropriate data-use agreement.”

Available on reasonable request:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and subject to applicable ethical, legal, and institutional requirements.”

Third-party data:
“The data analyzed in this study were obtained from [source]. Access is subject to the terms and conditions established by the data provider.”

No datasets generated or analyzed:
“No datasets were generated or analyzed for this article. Data availability is not applicable.”

A statement that data are available “upon request” should only be used when the authors can reasonably provide access and should identify any applicable conditions or restrictions.

3. Data Sharing and Repositories
Where ethical, legal, and institutional requirements permit, authors are encouraged to deposit supporting data in a trusted disciplinary, institutional, national, or general-purpose repository.
Repositories should preferably:

• Provide a persistent identifier, such as a DOI
• Support appropriate metadata and documentation
• Provide long-term preservation and stable access
• Permit appropriate licensing or terms of reuse
• Provide embargoed or controlled-access options where needed
• Apply appropriate security and privacy protections

Examples of general-purpose repositories include:

• Zenodo
• Open Science Framework
• Figshare
• Recognized institutional, national, or discipline-specific repositories

When a dataset has a persistent identifier, authors should cite the dataset in the manuscript and include it in the reference list where appropriate. Data should be accompanied by sufficient documentation to allow readers to understand its content, provenance, variables, processing, and conditions of use.
Authors remain responsible for ensuring that they have the authority and permission to deposit or share the data. CNJ does not require the use of a particular commercial or general-purpose repository.

4. Ethical, Legal, and Confidentiality Requirements
Data sharing must comply with the approval granted by the relevant ethics committee or Institutional Review Board, the consent provided by participants, applicable laws and regulations, institutional policies, contractual obligations, and agreements with data providers.
Authors must not publicly share identifiable or re-identifiable participant data unless disclosure is specifically permitted by applicable ethical and legal requirements and appropriate consent has been obtained.
Before sharing data, authors must consider:

• Direct and indirect identifiers
• The risk of participant re-identification
• The sensitivity and context of the information
• Participant consent and any consent limitations
• Ethics committee or institutional requirements
• Legal, contractual, and data-ownership restrictions
• Whether controlled access is more appropriate than public access

Qualitative data, including interview transcripts, field notes, photographs, audio recordings, and narrative accounts, may carry a substantial risk of identification even after direct identifiers are removed. Such data should only be shared when consistent with participant consent, ethics approval, confidentiality commitments, and applicable legal requirements.
When data cannot be shared publicly, authors must explain the restriction in the Data Availability Statement without disclosing confidential or identifying information. Restricted or controlled access is an acceptable form of data availability when justified.
Further requirements concerning participant privacy, informed consent, and identifiable data are provided in CNJ’s Ethical Consideration policy.

5. Clinical Trial Data Sharing
Manuscripts reporting the results of clinical trials must include a data-sharing statement consistent with applicable ICMJE Recommendations.
The statement should specify, where applicable:

• Whether de-identified individual participant data will be shared
• What data will be shared
• Whether related documents, such as the study protocol or statistical analysis plan, will be available
• When the data will become available and for how long
• The criteria, purpose, and mechanism for obtaining access

For clinical trials required by ICMJE policy to include a data-sharing plan in the trial registration, the statement in the manuscript must be consistent with the registered plan. Any material change to the plan should be transparently explained and updated in the trial registry where applicable.

6. Editorial Assessment and Access During Review
Editors may request clarification of a Data Availability Statement or, where necessary to evaluate the manuscript, may request access to supporting data, analysis files, protocols, or related documentation.
Any request will be considered in light of participant confidentiality, ethics approval, legal restrictions, contractual obligations, data ownership, and the scientific needs of the editorial assessment.
Supporting data provided confidentially for editorial or peer-review purposes must be handled as confidential material. Providing data to the journal for assessment does not authorize public release or reuse.
If authors are unable to provide requested data or documentation, they must explain the reason. An inability to share data because of legitimate ethical, legal, contractual, or practical restrictions is not, by itself, evidence of research misconduct. However, unexplained inconsistencies or concerns about the existence, provenance, accuracy, or integrity of the data may require further editorial assessment.

7. Accuracy, Non-Compliance, and Corrective Action
Authors are responsible for ensuring that Data Availability Statements, repository links, access conditions, and descriptions of supporting data are accurate at submission and publication.
If a statement is incomplete or unclear, CNJ may request clarification or revision before peer review, during review, or before publication. If a repository link or access arrangement changes after publication, authors should notify the journal promptly.
False, misleading, or materially inaccurate statements concerning data availability will be assessed in accordance with CNJ’s publication-ethics procedures and the nature and seriousness of the issue. Proportionate actions may include:

• Requesting clarification or correction of the statement
• Requesting appropriate supporting documentation
• Publishing a correction or clarification
• Conducting further editorial or research-integrity assessment
• Contacting the authors’ institution or another appropriate authority where warranted
• Retracting the article when the reliability or integrity of the published record is seriously undermined

Corrective actions will not be based solely on the absence of public data access. Decisions will consider whether the authors accurately disclosed the availability of the data, whether legitimate restrictions apply, and whether the reliability or integrity of the published findings is affected.
Post-publication action will be undertaken in accordance with CNJ’s Retraction & Correction Policy and applicable COPE guidance.

8. Responsibilities and Policy Review
Authors and their institutions remain responsible for appropriate data management, retention, documentation, security, and access arrangements. CNJ is responsible for checking that an appropriate Data Availability Statement is provided and for addressing material inconsistencies brought to its attention.
The inclusion of a repository link does not mean that CNJ owns, controls, permanently preserves, or independently verifies the deposited data. Responsibility for repository content and continued access remains with the authors, data owners, and repository provider, as applicable.
This policy is reviewed periodically to maintain consistency with CNJ’s editorial practices and relevant developments in research-data governance, publication ethics, and scholarly communication.