What license terms can I use for my research data?

For journals that do not have mandated requirements for data sharing in place, authors have the option to choose the basis on which they make their data available to others to access and to reuse. An open access license that enables the maximum potential for reuse is usually preferred for research data (typically CC0 or CC BY or equivalent), and this is encouraged.

Share upon reasonable request – rather than posting their data in a repository the author can include a Data Availability Statement and indicate the terms upon which data can be requested and accessed from the author.

Share with restrictions on reuse – authors can make their data available but under a restrictive license of their choice. Links to the data should still be included via a Data Availability Statement.

Open data – the author makes their data available on an open access basis permitting reuse and includes links in the Data Availability Statement. An open access license that enables the maximum potential for reuse is usually preferred for data (typically CC0 or CC BY or equivalent).

Where research data is held in repositories, the choice of license may be determined by the terms of the repository. Some journals or funders may mandate that authors make their data freely accessible to the public under a specific open access license.