American Physical Society Releases Refreshed Data Availability Policy for the Physical Review Journals

The policy requires authors to explain where research data can be found starting Sept. 4.

The American Physical Society has refreshed its data availability policy to reflect a commitment to transparent and ethical research. All articles published in the Physical Review journals will now feature a statement detailing where data required to support or replicate the claims can be accessed. This new policy goes into effect Sept. 4 for articles submitted to Physical Review D and PRX Energy, and will take effect for articles submitted to the remaining journals by the end of the year.

Previously, APS strongly encouraged authors to include data availability statements that detailed where relevant data, code, and other material used in the work could be accessed. Now, authors must select one of several pre-scripted data availability statements. The public sharing of data itself remains encouraged. Authors who do not provide data publicly must offer justification and their data must still be shared privately with referees and editors upon request.

Data availability statements in the Physical Review journals support independent verification of findings — a key part of the scientific process that advances open science publishing practices. Authors with questions about the policy’s implementation or readers who cannot access data for a published article can contact APS’s editorial office.