Joint Data Archiving Policy (JDAP)

The Joint Data Archiving Policy (JDAP) describes a requirement that data supporting publications be publicly available. This policy was adopted in a joint and coordinated fashion by many leading journals in the field of evolution in 2011, and JDAP has since been adopted by additional journals across various disciplines. Other journals are welcome to endorse and implement JDAP, or use it as a model.

Journals that adopt JDAP often recommend Dryad as an appropriate data repository, however, the JDAP initiative is distinct from Dryad.

JDAP consists of the following text:

"[Journal] requires, as a condition for publication, that data supporting the results in the paper should be archived in an appropriate public archive, such as [list of approved archives here]. Data are important products of the scientific enterprise, and they should be preserved and usable for decades in the future. Authors may elect to have the data publicly available at time of publication, or, if the technology of the archive allows, may opt to embargo access to the data for a period up to a year after publication. Exceptions may be granted at the discretion of the editor, especially for sensitive information such as human subject data or the location of endangered species."

View recommended elements and examples of journal data policies.

Representative editorials from Dryad Partner journals (this list is not maintained):

 * Coulson, T. and B. Sheldon. 2014. Archive your data!. Animal Ecology In Focus. https://journalofanimalecology.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/archive-your-data/
 * Fox, C. W., Irschick, D. J., Knapp, A. K., Thompson, K., Baker, L. and Meyer, J. 2014. Functional ecology: moving forward into a new era of publishing. Functional Ecology. 28: 291–292. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12254
 * Baker, C. S. 2013. Journal of Heredity Adopts Joint Data Archiving Policy. Journal of Heredity. 104(1):1, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/ess137
 * Wenburg, J. K. 2011. Data Archiving. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management. https://doi.org/10.3996/1944-687X-2.1.1
 * Butlin, R. 2011. Data archiving. Heredity 106(5):709, https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2010.43
 * Bruna, E. M. 2010. Scientific Journals can Advance Tropical Biology and Conservation by Requiring Data Archiving. Biotropica. 42: 399–401. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00652.x
 * Fairbairn, D. J. 2010. The advent of mandatory data archiving. Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01182.x
 * Tseng, M. and L. Bernatchez. 2010. Editorial: 2009 in review. Evolutionary Applications. 3(2):93-95, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-4571.2010.00122.x
 * Uyenoyama, M. K. 2010. MBE editor's report. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 27(3):742-743. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msp229
 * Moore, A. J., M. A. McPeek, M. D. Rausher, L. Rieseberg, and M. C. Whitlock. 2010. The need for archiving data in evolutionary biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.01937.x
 * Rausher, M. D., M. A. McPeek, A. J. Moore, L. Rieseberg, and M. C. Whitlock. 2010. Data Archiving. Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00940.x
 * Rieseberg, L., T. Vines, and N. Kane. 2010. Editorial and retrospective 2010. Molecular Ecology. 19(1):1-22, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04450.x
 * Whitlock, M. C., M. A. McPeek, M. D. Rausher, L. Rieseberg, and A. J. Moore. 2010. Data Archiving. American Naturalist. 175(2):145-146, https://doi.org/10.1086/650340

Frequently Asked Questions
Am I required to submit my whole data set into the repository?

No, only the data required to support the claims made in the publication need to be archived. Of course, you are welcome to archive more if you like. For recommendations on what and how to submit, see: Data archiving in ecology and evolution: best practices, MC Whitlock, (2010). Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 26 (2), p. 61-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2010.11.006

What if I want to run additional analysis on my data before making it available?

When permitted by journal policy, data may be placed under embargo at the time it is archived, allowing you to prepare additional publications from the same original data. Both the JDAP and Dryad permit each data file to be placed under embargo for a period of one year from the publication of the associated article.

Am I forfeiting an intellectual property interest to my data by publicly submitting it?

Facts in and of themselves are not eligible for copyright in most countries (e.g. see this commentary from Bitlaw regarding U.S. copyright law). Researchers who reuse data from Dryad are expected to follow community norms for scholarly communication and cite the original data authors, just as they would cite a published paper. Any reuse of the data for publication is expected to cite both the data and the original publication from which it was derived. See Submitting Data to Dryad for more information.

 Doesn’t adding to the requirements for publication increase the time burden we all share?

The journals behind the JDAP are committed to minimizing the burden on authors, while ensuring that important data is permanently archived.