Ivimey-Cook Edward R, Sánchez-Tójar Alfredo, Berberi Ilias, Culina Antica, Roche Dominique G, A Almeida Rafaela, Amin Bawan, Bairos-Novak Kevin R, Balti Heikel, Bertram Michael G, Bliard Louis, Byrne Ilha, Chan Ying-Chi, Cioffi William R, Corbel Quentin, Elsy Alexander D, Florko Katie R N, Gould Elliot, Grainger Matthew J, Harshbarger Anne E, Hovstad Knut Anders, Martin Jake M, Martinig April Robin, Masoero Giulia, Moodie Iain R, Moreau David, O'Dea Rose E, Paquet Matthieu, Pick Joel L, Rizvi Tuba, Silva Inês, Szabo Birgit, Takola Elina, Thoré Eli S J, Verberk Wilco C E P, Windecker Saras M, Winter Gabe, Zajková Zuzana, Zeiss Romy, Moran Nicholas Patrick
School of Biodiversity, One Health, and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Department of Evolutionary Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
Proc Biol Sci. 2025 Sep;292(2055):20251394. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2025.1394. Epub 2025 Sep 17.
Data and code are essential for ensuring the credibility of scientific results and facilitating reproducibility, areas in which journal sharing policies play a crucial role. However, in ecology and evolution, we still do not know how widespread data- and code-sharing policies are, how accessible they are, and whether journals support data and code peer review. Here, we first assessed the clarity, strictness and timing of data- and code-sharing policies across 275 journals in ecology and evolution. Second, we assessed initial compliance to journal policies using submissions from two journals: (Mar 2023-Feb 2024: = 2340) and (Jun 2021-Nov 2023: = 571). Our results indicate the need for improvement: across 275 journals, 22.5% encouraged and 38.2% mandated data-sharing, while 26.6% encouraged and 26.9% mandated code-sharing. Journals that mandated data- or code-sharing typically required it for peer review (59.0% and 77.0%, respectively), which decreased when journals only encouraged sharing (40.3% and 24.7%, respectively). Our evaluation of policy compliance confirmed the important role of journals in increasing data- and code-sharing but also indicated the need for meaningful changes to enhance reproducibility. We provide seven recommendations to help improve data- and code-sharing, and policy compliance.
数据和代码对于确保科学成果的可信度以及促进可重复性至关重要，而期刊共享政策在这些方面发挥着关键作用。然而，在生态学和进化领域，我们仍然不清楚数据和代码共享政策的普及程度、可获取性，以及期刊是否支持数据和代码同行评审。在此，我们首先评估了275种生态学和进化领域期刊的数据和代码共享政策的清晰度、严格程度和时间要求。其次，我们利用来自两种期刊的投稿评估了对期刊政策的初步遵守情况：（2023年3月 - 2024年2月： = 2340）和（2021年6月 - 2023年11月： = 571）。我们的结果表明有必要进行改进：在275种期刊中，22.5%鼓励并38.2%强制要求数据共享，而26.6%鼓励并26.9%强制要求代码共享。强制要求数据或代码共享的期刊通常要求在同行评审时提供（分别为59.0%和77.0%），而当期刊仅鼓励共享时这一比例会下降（分别为40.3%和24.7%）。我们对政策遵守情况的评估证实了期刊在增加数据和代码共享方面的重要作用，但也表明需要进行有意义的变革以提高可重复性。我们提供了七条建议来帮助改进数据和代码共享以及政策遵守情况。
