Research Data and Materials

Open Christian Press encourages responsible transparency about the evidence underlying published claims. Transparency strengthens scrutiny and reuse, but it must be balanced with consent, confidentiality, safeguarding, legal obligations, cultural responsibilities and legitimate security concerns.

The appropriate level of access depends on the discipline, method and nature of the material. Open data is encouraged where it is ethical, lawful and practicable. It is not an absolute requirement where disclosure would harm participants, violate agreements or expose protected information.

Data availability statements

Empirical submissions should include a concise statement explaining where the underlying data, code or materials can be accessed, or why access is restricted. The statement should distinguish publicly available material from data obtainable on reasonable request.

Acceptable statements may indicate that:

·       Data and code are openly available in a named repository with a persistent identifier

·       De-identified data are available from the corresponding author subject to ethical or legal conditions

·       Data cannot be shared because participant consent did not permit public release

·       The work is conceptual or based entirely on cited public sources and generated no new dataset

·       Materials belong to a third party and must be requested from the rights holder

Repositories and persistent identifiers

Where possible, authors should use a reputable disciplinary, institutional or general-purpose repository that provides durable access, versioning, metadata and a persistent identifier. A personal cloud folder is not a sufficient long-term repository for the version supporting a scholarly claim.

Personal and sensitive data

Direct identifiers should not be published unless there is a compelling lawful basis and explicit consent. De-identification should be assessed realistically because combinations of variables may permit re-identification.

Sensitive data may include health, biometric, financial, political, religious, location, employment, migration, disciplinary or safeguarding information. Indigenous, community-held or culturally restricted knowledge may require governance beyond individual consent.

Qualitative materials

Interview transcripts, field notes and images can contain contextual details that make anonymity difficult. Authors should not promise public data release when that promise is incompatible with the consent process. Carefully selected excerpts, analytic frameworks, codebooks or controlled-access arrangements may provide appropriate transparency.

Code, models and computational workflows

Where software or code materially supports the findings, authors should describe versions, dependencies, parameters and relevant computational conditions sufficiently for evaluation. Proprietary restrictions should be disclosed. Generated output should not substitute for source data or a documented method.

Secondary data and public sources

Authors using secondary datasets, policy documents, archives, public websites or bibliometric records must cite the source, explain selection and processing, and respect the applicable licence or terms of access. Public availability does not automatically remove ethical responsibilities.

Retention and verification

Authors should retain underlying records for a period appropriate to the discipline, funder, institution and applicable law. The Press may request evidence necessary to investigate a credible concern, subject to confidentiality and jurisdictional limitations.

Data citations

Datasets, code and substantial research materials should be cited as research outputs where possible, including creator, title, repository, year, version and persistent identifier.

Transparency is meaningful when it enables responsible understanding of how a conclusion was reached, not when it exposes people or communities to avoidable harm.