This journal supports best practices in research openness and transparency. The policies below outline our expectations for authors to help ensure that the research results we publish are as transparent as possible.

This journal believes in the importance of transparent and reproducible research.

We encourage authors to follow best practices in reporting their methodology. Reporting guidelines for many study designs, including quantitative and qualitative scholarship across many disciplines, can be found in the EQUATOR Network.

Where possible we encourage authors to make evidence, data, code, and other materials that underpin their findings available to readers. We encourage the use of Data Availability Statements to describe whether the materials that underpin research findings have been made available to readers, and if so, where.

When sharing materials, we recommend using a dedicated repository appropriate to the materials. In particular, repositories that provide permanent identifiers and have robust preservation policies will help to ensure the long-term integrity of published research.

We also encourage authors to cite materials and data they have used in their research, alongside literature citations, to recognise the importance of all kinds of research outputs.

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact the editorial office. 

Citing data and other materials

We encourage authors to cite any materials and data they have used in their research, alongside literature citations, to recognise the importance of all kinds of research outputs.

Code and model availability

We strongly encourage authors to share any analytical code or models used for the research reported in their manuscript. We recommend using an appropriate repository to make code and models available. Information about where you have made your code or models available should be included in your Data Availability Statement.

Data availability

All manuscripts submitted to this journal must contain a Data Availability Statement, explaining where and how readers can access the data underpinning the research published in the manuscript.

We require all data underpinning your research to be made available to readers through an appropriate repository. In particular, repositories that provide persistent identifiers and have robust preservation policies will help to ensure the long-term integrity of published research. This policy applies to both quantitative data and qualitative materials. 

It is not acceptable for your Data Availability Statement to say that data are “available on request” from the authors. If you cannot make your data publicly available due to ethical or legal concerns, please contact the editorial office to discuss an exemption to this policy.

If your code is stored and managed in GitHub, please make use of GitHub’s integration with Zenodo to create an archive of your code at the time of manuscript submission. This ensures that other researchers can access a version of your code as it was at the time you published your research, even if you later make changes in GitHub. You will receive a Zenodo DOI so that your code can be formally cited by others.

Please refer to the services for authors section of Cambridge Core for general guidance on best practices in research transparency.

Open Practice Badges

We recognise best practices in open research by awarding Open Practice Badges to authors who openly share the data and materials underpinning their research, or who have preregistered their research plans.

Badges are awarded by author declaration. You will be asked during the submission process to confirm whether or not you have met the criteria for each badge.