Research Data Availability Policy
1. General Provisions
The scientific journal Environment & Health supports the principles of Open Science, research transparency, responsible research data management, and the reproducibility of scientific findings.
The purpose of this policy is to ensure transparency regarding the data underlying published research findings, facilitate their verification and responsible reuse, and promote compliance with research ethics, copyright requirements, and personal data protection regulations.
This policy has been developed with reference to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the EQUATOR Network, and the internationally recognized FAIR principles for research data management (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).
The journal encourages authors to make the data necessary to verify their research findings available through trusted scientific repositories or other appropriate data access mechanisms.
However, the journal does not require the unrestricted public disclosure of all original research data, particularly personal, medical, confidential, or other information subject to legal, ethical, or third-party restrictions.
2. Scope of the Policy
This policy applies to original research manuscripts submitted to the journal, including:
- Epidemiological and population-based studies.
- Public and occupational health research.
- Hygiene and environmental health studies.
- Research on physical, chemical, and biological environmental factors.
- Laboratory and experimental studies.
- Exposure and health risk assessment studies.
- Research evaluating preventive measures and interventions.
Research data may include measurement and observational results, laboratory measurements, anonymized or aggregated epidemiological data, statistical datasets, survey findings, modelling outputs, software code, and other information necessary to substantiate scientific conclusions.
For systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and scoping reviews, authors are encouraged to make search strategies, data extraction tables, lists of included studies, and other materials available to facilitate verification of the review methodology and findings.
3. Mandatory Data Availability Statement
All original research articles must include a separate declaration entitled:
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The statement must appear after the main text of the article, within the editorial declarations section, before the REFERENCES section.
The statement must accurately reflect the actual availability of the research data and, as applicable, include the following information:
- Whether the data supporting the study findings are available.
- Where the relevant data are stored.
- The DOI, URL, or other persistent identifier of the dataset, if publicly available.
- The conditions under which access to the data may be obtained if they are not publicly accessible.
- The reasons for restricting access, where applicable.
Where data cannot be made publicly available, authors must provide a justified explanation.
The requirement is to provide an accurate Data Availability Statement, not necessarily to make all research data openly accessible.
Information on data availability must be provided at the time of initial manuscript submission and, where necessary, updated before the manuscript is accepted for publication.
For review and analytical articles in which no new datasets have been generated, a Data Availability Statement should be provided where appropriate to the nature of the work.
4. Forms of Research Data Availability
The journal recognizes the following forms of research data availability.
4.1. Open Data
Research data may be deposited in open scientific repositories and assigned a DOI or another persistent identifier.
Where possible, the editorial office recommends making data available in machine-readable formats, accompanied by descriptions of variables, units of measurement, data collection methods, and data processing procedures.
4.2. Data Available on Reasonable Request
Where open access to research data is not provided, authors may arrange for the data to be made available upon reasonable scientific request.
The Data Availability Statement must identify the person or institution responsible for handling requests, specify the applicable access conditions, and describe any restrictions.
This form of data availability may be declared only where the authors or responsible institution are genuinely able to consider requests and provide access to the relevant data.
4.3. Restricted Data
Access to research data may be restricted due to:
- Protection of personal and medical data.
- Conditions specified in participants' informed consent.
- Decisions of a research ethics committee.
- Legal or contractual restrictions.
- Third-party rights.
- Other justified confidentiality or security requirements.
In such cases, authors must describe the nature of the restrictions and, where possible, indicate whether anonymized, aggregated, or derived data can be made available.
4.4. Data from Publicly Available External Sources
Where a study is based on previously published or publicly available datasets, authors must identify the original data sources, provide the relevant DOIs or URLs, and specify the applicable terms of use.
The reuse of such data must comply with the relevant rights and licensing conditions.
5. Research Data Repositories and FAIR Principles
The journal recommends depositing research data in discipline-specific or general-purpose scientific repositories that provide reliable preservation, identification, and accessibility of research materials.
Examples of such repositories and platforms include:
- Institutional and subject-specific repositories appropriate to the relevant research discipline.
Authors are responsible for selecting an appropriate repository, taking into account the nature of the data, the requirements of their research institution or funder, and applicable legal restrictions.
When preparing datasets, authors are encouraged to follow the FAIR principles:
- Findable – data should be discoverable and uniquely identifiable.
- Accessible – the conditions for accessing data should be clearly defined.
- Interoperable – data should be suitable for integration and use with other information resources.
- Reusable – data should be accompanied by sufficient documentation and clearly defined conditions for reuse.
Compliance with the FAIR principles does not necessarily require all data to be openly accessible without restrictions.
6. Protection of Personal and Confidential Data
Authors are responsible for complying with personal data protection legislation, research ethics requirements, informed consent conditions, and other applicable legal restrictions.
Before making research data publicly available, authors must assess the risks of identifying research participants, including through the combination of individual variables or multiple datasets.
Personal, medical, and other confidential information must not be made publicly accessible without an appropriate legal basis.
Where feasible, the use of anonymized or aggregated data is recommended, provided that such disclosure does not create unacceptable risks of re-identification.
Particular attention must be paid to:
- Individual medical records.
- Occupational health data concerning employees.
- Survey data containing sensitive information.
- Geospatial data that may enable the identification of individuals.
- Data concerning children and other vulnerable population groups.
The editorial office does not require the public disclosure of information where such disclosure could violate research participants' rights or applicable legislation.
7. Availability of Methods, Protocols, and Software Code
The journal encourages authors to ensure methodological transparency and facilitate the verification of research findings.
Where relevant materials are available, authors are encouraged to provide:
- Research protocols.
- Detailed measurement and laboratory procedures.
- Data processing algorithms.
- Statistical analysis code.
- Descriptions of mathematical and computational models.
- Supplementary results tables.
- Metadata and data dictionaries.
For studies investigating physical environmental factors, particularly noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields, and ultraviolet radiation, authors are encouraged, where feasible, to make anonymized measurement data available together with information on measurement conditions, equipment specifications, and data processing procedures.
The sharing of supplementary research materials must not infringe third-party rights or breach confidentiality requirements.
8. Specific Requirements for Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are subject to the relevant ICMJE recommendations concerning trial registration and data sharing statements.
A clinical trial data sharing statement must clearly specify:
- Whether de-identified individual participant data will be shared.
- Which specific data will be made available.
- Whether additional documents, including the study protocol and statistical analysis plan, will be available.
- When the data will become available and for how long.
- Who may obtain access to the data, for what purposes, and through which procedures.
For trials that are required under ICMJE recommendations to include a data sharing plan in their registration record, the information provided in the manuscript must be consistent with that plan.
9. Responsibilities of Authors and the Editorial Office
Authors are responsible for:
- The accuracy, reliability, and integrity of research data.
- Appropriate documentation of data collection and analytical methods.
- The lawful storage and dissemination of research data.
- The accuracy of information provided in the Data Availability Statement.
- Compliance with the conditions governing access to third-party data.
Authors must ensure the retention of research materials in accordance with applicable legislation, the requirements of their institution and funder, and the approved research protocol.
Where justified concerns arise regarding the reliability of research findings, the editorial office may request relevant original data, methodological explanations, or other supporting materials, within applicable legal and ethical limits.
Such materials must be transferred to the editorial office through appropriately secure channels. Their submission does not automatically authorize public disclosure.
The editorial office assesses the completeness and accuracy of Data Availability Statements during initial editorial screening and scientific peer review.
Where a required statement is missing or contains inconsistent information, the editorial office may request clarification or revision.
Where significant violations concerning data reliability or availability are established, the matter is addressed in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics and Editorial Policy and its procedure for handling complaints.
10. Copyright and Data Licensing
Providing access to research data does not automatically transfer copyright ownership or other intellectual property rights to the journal's editorial office.
The conditions governing the use of publicly available datasets are determined by the applicable rights, licenses, and repository policies.
The CC BY 4.0 license applied to the journal's scholarly articles does not automatically extend to all associated research data where different lawful terms of use have been established.
When reusing openly available datasets, users must appropriately acknowledge the data creators, repository name, and DOI or other identifier in accordance with the applicable terms of use.
11. Examples of Data Availability Statements
11.1. Data Deposited in an Open Repository
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
"The data supporting the findings of this study have been deposited in the open-access repository [repository name] and are available at [DOI or URL]."
11.2. Data Available on Reasonable Request
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
"The data supporting the findings of this study are not deposited in a publicly accessible repository but may be obtained from the corresponding author upon reasonable scientific request, subject to the applicable conditions of access."
11.3. Restricted Data Availability
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
"The original research data are not publicly available due to restrictions related to personal data protection and research ethics requirements. Aggregated findings are presented in the article. Additional information may be provided subject to applicable legal and ethical requirements."
11.4. Publicly Available External Data
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
"This study was conducted using publicly available data from [source or database name], accessible at [DOI or URL]. The terms of data use are determined by the respective data provider."
11.5. No New Datasets Generated for a Review Article
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
"No new primary datasets were generated during the preparation of this review article. The scientific sources used are listed in the REFERENCES section."
The above examples are standardized formulations and must be adapted to accurately reflect the circumstances of each study.
12. Final Provisions
«Довкілля та здоров’я» (Environment & Health) supports the responsible sharing of research data as an essential component of scientific transparency, verifiability, and reproducibility.
A Data Availability Statement is mandatory for all original research articles. Open access to original research data is encouraged but must be implemented in accordance with applicable legal, ethical, and contractual restrictions.
This policy applies to manuscripts submitted after its official approval and publication.
The editorial office periodically reviews and updates this policy to reflect developments in international scholarly publishing standards, Open Science principles, and research data management practices.
International Guidelines and Standards
