Our Approach to Data Sharing

The Journal of Biochemical and Clinical Genetics (JBCGenetics) supports open and transparent research. Authors are encouraged to make the data behind their findings available where this is possible and appropriate, and to say clearly where it can be found.

Data Availability Statement

Authors should include a short data availability statement in their manuscript. It should say whether the data are available and, if so, where and under what conditions. If the data cannot be shared, the statement should give the reason, for example patient confidentiality, ethical or legal limits, or third-party restrictions.

Patient and Family Privacy

Genetic and genomic data can identify patients and their relatives, even when names are removed. Data and images must be de-identified, and authors must follow the consent and confidentiality requirements in the Guide for Authors and the Protection of Research Participants policy. Data that could identify a patient or family member must not be shared without consent and any required ethical approval.

Repositories

Where data can be shared, we encourage authors to deposit it in a recognised public repository, such as ClinVar for variant interpretations, and to cite it in the manuscript with a persistent identifier such as a DOI or an accession number. Supplementary files may also be submitted with the manuscript, as described in the Guide for Authors.

Verification

On request, authors should be prepared to provide relevant documentation or data so that the editors can check the validity of the results. Confidential proprietary data is excluded.