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Category: Project

Description: Data availability statements in scientific publications have been introduced as a measure to encourage easy access to data and foster Open Science practices. Recent studies to test the availability of research data showed that only a minority of study authors is willing to share their primary data. In addition to primary data, the analysis code and associated meta-data are critical when aiming at reproducing or verifying published research findings. The goal of our study is to further scrutinise the data and code availability statement, focusing on three neuroscience research branches: multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and stroke; as well as two publishers/journals which mandate a data availability statement (Frontiers and Nature). Since data from human patients is considered sensitive, we will solely consider preclinical studies. More concretely, our study aims at answering the following research question: Are authors willing to share primary data, any associated analysis code and meta-data necessary to reproduce the research findings from their study? In addition, we aim at answering the following secondary research questions in the context of neuroscience research: 1) How much data and code are available in publications and/or upon request from authors in preclinical studies? 2) Is data/code from more recent studies more easily available and accessible compared to older studies?, and 3) are there any differences in data/code availability between less or more acknowledged journals?. We will systematically identify eligible publications by PRISMA-conform systematic review methodology.