ESA Data Policy
The editors and publisher expect authors to make the data underlying published articles available. As a condition for publication in Ecological Monographs (submitted as of January 1, 2011) and Ecological Applications (submitted as of January 1, 2014), all data associated with the results reported in accepted manuscripts must be made available in a permanent, publicly-accessible data archive or repository. See the specific policies for Ecological Monographs and Ecological Applications.
Although public data availability is not strictly a requirement for manuscripts published in Ecology and Ecosphere at this time, any information on materials, methods or data necessary to verify the conclusions of the research reported must be made available to the Subject-matter Editor upon request.
By depositing data prior to the publication of a manuscript, a permanent link can be made to and from the published paper. Wiley Online Library can be used for this purpose, but only if the material is submitted with the original submission, so that it undergoes review. Data can be deposited in other depositories following acceptance and prior to publication.
Authors are strongly encouraged to deposit the data underlying their manuscripts in the Dryad data repository, which provides a flexible platform for a wide variety of digital data. Other permanent depositories include GenBank for DNA sequences, ORNL-DAAC for biogeochemical data, Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity: KNB and the LTER Data Portal, as well as institutional repositories such as that at the University of Illinois.
Advantages of depositing data in in a permanent repository include:
* Visibility: Making your data available online (and linking it to the publication) provides a new pathway for others to learn about your work
* Citability: all data you deposit will receive a persistent, resolvable, identifier that can be used in a citation as well as listed on your CV
* Workload reduction: if you receive individual requests for data, you can simply direct them to files in the archive
* Preservation: your data files will be permanently and safely archived in perpetuity
* Impact: you will garner citations through the reuse of your data
There are costs related to data storage and curation. See the specific policies for Ecological Monographs and Ecological Applications.
rev 2/3/16
