By submitting to the journal, you indicate that you accept the Data Availability Policy. In short, the default rule is that you are required to submit all code and data necessary to reproduce your work, and permit any reader of the journal to use them.
Data Availability Policy
The Review of Economic Studies endorses DCAS, the Data and Code Availability Standard [v1.0], and its data and code availability policy is compatible with DCAS.
| Data | ||
| 1 | Data Availability Statement | A Data Availability Statement is provided with detailed enough information such that an independent researcher can replicate the steps needed to access the original data, including any limitations and the expected monetary and time cost of data access. |
| 2 | Raw data | Raw data used in the research (primary data collected by the author and secondary data not otherwise available) is made publicly accessible. Exceptions are explained under Rule 1. |
| 3 | Analysis data | Analysis data is provided as part of the replication package unless they can be fully reproduced from accessible data within a reasonable time frame. Exceptions are explained under Rule 1. |
| 4 | Format | The data files are provided in any format compatible with commonly used statistical package or software. Some journals require data files in open, non-proprietary formats. |
| 5 | Metadata | Description of variables and their allowed values are publicly accessible. |
| 6 | Citation | All data used in the paper are cited. |
| Code | ||
| 7 | Data transformation | Programs used to create any final and analysis data sets from raw data are included. |
| 8 | Analysis | Programs producing the computational results (estimation, simulation, model solution, visualization) are included. |
| 9 | Format | Code is provided in source format that can be directly interpreted or compiled by appropriate software. |
| Supporting materials | ||
| 10 | Instruments | If collecting original data through surveys or experiments, survey instruments or experiment instructions as well as details on subject selection are included. |
| 11 | Ethics | If applicable, details are shared about ethics approval. |
| 12 | Pre-registration | If applicable, pre-registration of the research is identified and cited. |
| 13 | Documentation | A README document is included, containing a Data Availability Statement, listing all software and hardware dependencies and requirements (including the expected run time), and explaining how to reproduce the research results. The README follows the schema provided by the Social Science Data Editors’ template README. |
| Sharing | ||
| 14 | Location | Data and programs are archived by the authors in the repositories deemed acceptable by the journal. |
| 15 | License | A license specifies the terms of use of code and data in the replication package. The license allows for replication by researchers unconnected to the original parties. |
| 16 | Omissions | The README clearly indicates any omission of the required parts of the package due to legal requirements or limitations or other approved agreements. |
Replication packages will be posted in the Review’s Replication Archive.
The Managing Editor should be notified at the time of submission if the above requirements cannot be met for any reason (see details below). We reserve the right to refuse publication of papers whose authors do not comply with these requirements.
As soon as possible after receiving instructions from the Journal Manager, authors of accepted papers are expected to send their data, programs, and sufficient details to permit replication, in electronic form, to the Review office. Questions regarding any aspect of this policy should be forwarded to the Data Editor.
README files should include information on the operating system-software version combination used in the analysis and ideally an estimate for computation time (possibly with hardware specifications used in the execution of the programs).
Software requirements should explicitly list all modules, libraries, toolboxes and commands used that are not part of the core software.
Programs that rely on random number generators should set seeds to allow replication.
If it is necessary to execute programs in a particular order, this should be made explicit in the README files.
The Data Editor acknowledge that practical difficulties in complying with this policy may exist, as with proprietary datasets with limited access or public use data sets that require consent forms to be signed before use. Exemptions in such cases are possible, but authors must provide interested investigators the necessary information on how to obtain the data (even if the data are provided by a third party at a monetary cost). This information should be provided in the README file and a copy of the relevant programs to generate the final results is still required. In some specific cases, computer programs may have value in themselves and the authors may not make them public. Similarly, there may be compelling reasons to restrict usage, and if Managing Editors agree, we will post a notice on the web site regarding such restrictions.
Requests for exemptions should be clearly stated when the article is first submitted. The article will then be reviewed at the discretion of the Managing Editors and the Data Editor. Exceptions will not be considered later in the review and publication process.
What if your dataset is confidential?
There may be cases when you cannot share the dataset directly. This does not lead to automatic exemption from the Data Availability Policy. Please note, at the time of submission, why you cannot comply fully with the policy.
Submission instructions
Please see detailed submission instructions here.