FAIR principles
Where appropriate and ethically permissible, authors are encouraged to make research outputs findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable, with documentation sufficient for readers to understand the data and methods.
Responsible sharing
Data sharing must respect privacy, consent, intellectual property, security obligations and legitimate restrictions. Sensitive human data should not be made public merely to satisfy a general openness expectation.
Statements and repositories
Authors should describe data availability accurately and may use established repositories when suitable. The journal should not claim that data are open when access is restricted or unavailable.
A practical data availability statement
Explain what underlying data support the main findings, where they can be accessed, and what restrictions apply. Specify repository names or persistent identifiers when available. A blanket claim that data are available should not be used when the underlying materials cannot actually be obtained.
Human-participant data require special care
Research in ergonomics, healthcare, education or workplace systems may involve sensitive participant records. Before depositing data, evaluate consent scope, re-identification risk, legal duties and institutional approvals. When public release is inappropriate, controlled access, synthetic examples or sufficiently detailed methods may offer responsible alternatives.
Materials beyond datasets
Analytical scripts, study instruments, codebooks, task definitions, evaluation protocols and model settings may be essential to interpreting the results. Provide versions, dependencies, limitations and suitable licences where practical, without disclosing protected or proprietary material.