1. Scope and guiding principles

This policy applies to original research and other submissions where data, analysis code, or supporting materials underpin the reported findings. It also applies, as relevant, to systematic reviews, meta-analyses, audits, quality-improvement studies, qualitative research, case series, and secondary analyses.

TORGJ supports data sharing when it is lawful, ethical, feasible, and consistent with the permissions under which the data were obtained. Public deposition of all datasets is not mandatory. Restrictions may be necessary, particularly for clinical, patient-level, sensitive, proprietary, or third-party data.

Data sharing does not replace the obligation to obtain appropriate ethics approval, informed consent, institutional permission, or data-access authorisation where required.

2. Data Availability Statement

Authors of manuscripts reporting research findings must include a Data Availability Statement describing whether and how the data supporting the findings can be accessed. Where no new data were generated or analysed, this should be stated explicitly.

The statement should, where applicable, identify:

• The location of the supporting data, including repository name and persistent identifier or URL.
• Whether access is open, controlled, restricted, available upon reasonable request, or unavailable.
• The reason for any restrictions, such as participant privacy, consent limitations, ethical conditions, legal requirements, or third-party ownership.
• The appropriate contact or process for requesting access, where requests are permitted.

A statement that data are available on reasonable request does not guarantee access; requests remain subject to appropriate review, permissions, and any necessary data-sharing agreement.

3. Data sharing routes and repositories

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to deposit non-sensitive research datasets in a reputable disciplinary, institutional, or general-purpose repository that provides stable access, appropriate metadata, and preferably a persistent identifier such as a DOI.

Suitable arrangements may include:

• Open access: de-identified or non-sensitive datasets made publicly available with appropriate documentation and reuse terms.
• Controlled access: data shared after review of eligibility, purpose, ethics, and security safeguards.
• Reasonable request: data considered for sharing by the corresponding author or responsible institution, subject to approval.
• Restricted or unavailable: data that cannot appropriately be shared because of privacy, consent, legal, contractual, intellectual-property, or ethical constraints.

Authors should not upload confidential patient-level information or identifiable records to public repositories merely to satisfy publication requirements.

4. Human participants, confidentiality, and consent

Protection of research participants takes precedence over unrestricted data access. Authors must comply with applicable data-protection legislation, ethics committee conditions, institutional policies, and the terms of participant consent.

• Direct identifiers must not be disclosed in shared datasets without an appropriate lawful and ethical basis.
• Removing names alone may not be sufficient to prevent re-identification, especially in small or rare clinical datasets.
• Qualitative transcripts, images, recordings, and detailed case narratives require particular care because indirect identification may remain possible.
• Where consent does not permit sharing, or where sharing creates an unacceptable re-identification risk, authors should explain the restriction in the Data Availability Statement.
• Where access is granted, appropriate safeguards may include secure transfer, data-use agreements, access controls, and limits on onward disclosure.

For animal research, sharing must be consistent with applicable ethical approvals, institutional requirements, and any relevant restrictions on the data or materials.

5. Supporting materials, protocols, and analysis code

Where relevant and permissible, authors are encouraged to make available study protocols, questionnaires, data dictionaries, statistical analysis plans, codebooks, analytic scripts, and other materials needed to understand or reproduce their analyses.

Authors should provide sufficient descriptions of variables, methods, software, and transformations to support interpretation. Materials belonging to third parties may only be shared where the necessary permissions exist. Any restrictions should be described transparently.

6. Responsibilities of authors

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their Data Availability Statement and for ensuring that any proposed data sharing is authorised. Before submission, they should confirm that:

• They have the necessary rights, permissions, and approvals to share the data or supporting materials.
• Confidential and identifiable information is appropriately protected.
• Repository links, accession numbers, and identifiers are accurate and functional where provided.
• Restrictions and access conditions are described honestly and clearly.
• Data management and retention arrangements follow applicable institutional and legal requirements.

TORGJ does not take custody of research datasets solely by publishing an article, and authors and their institutions remain responsible for the stewardship of data under their control.

7. Editorial assessment and exceptions

Editors may request clarification of a Data Availability Statement or ask authors to provide supporting information needed to assess the reliability of a submission, subject to ethical, legal, and confidentiality limitations.

The journal may accept justified restrictions on data access. A decision not to make sensitive data publicly available will not, by itself, constitute grounds for rejection when the restriction is adequately explained and the research otherwise meets editorial and scientific standards.

Any editorial request for underlying data must be handled through appropriate secure and authorised arrangements. Reviewers and editors must preserve the confidentiality of non-public materials supplied during assessment.

8. Suggested Data Availability Statements

Authors should adapt the following examples to reflect the actual data arrangements for their study. They must not use a statement that is inaccurate or promises access they cannot provide.

9. Post-publication access requests and concerns

Requests for data following publication should normally be directed to the corresponding author or the named data custodian using the process stated in the article. Requests may require confirmation of research purpose, ethics approval, institutional authorisation, or a data-sharing agreement.

Concerns about misleading Data Availability Statements, unauthorised disclosure, or material inconsistencies in supporting data may be referred to the journal for assessment under its publication ethics and correction or retraction procedures, as appropriate.