PLOS (The Public Library of Science) is implementing a new data access policy that will affect Emory researchers seeking to publish with the widely regarded publisher of open access journals for science and medicine. Beginning March 3rd, 2014, a Data Availability Statement will be required with all prospective articles submitted to any PLOS journal.
The new policy ensures that data underlying published research are made publicly accessible, either through the article’s supporting information files or an appropriate data repository, such as GenBank or Dryad. PLOS recognizes that exceptions will be necessary for some datasets–when the data require access restrictions to protect the confidentiality of research subjects, or when data were generated by a third party. Researchers should review PLOS’s Data Policy FAQ for more details.
PLOS is a particularly popular open access publisher with Emory researchers. At the time of writing, Emory researchers had published 709 articles across PLOS’s seven journals. OpenEmory, Emory’s open access institutional repository of faculty scholarship, currently holds 327+ PLOS publications. OpenEmory allows researchers to link their articles to supplemental materials, including archived data sets.
If you are interested in publishing with PLOS or another open access publisher, Emory’s Open Access Publishing Fund provides funds to make it easier for Emory authors to publish in eligible open access (OA) journals and books when no alternative funding is available.
For more information about assistance with data archiving, contact Jennifer Doty, Research Data Librarian, at jennifer [dot] doty [at] emory [dot] edu. For more information about the Open Access Publishing Fund please contact the Scholarly Communications Office at openemory [at] listserv [dot] cc [dot] emory [dot] edu.
Related:
OA Week Open Data post: https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/woodruff/resourcespotlight/open-data-deposit-experience-of-an-emory-researcher