Data Sharing Policy

1. Introduction

The African Journal of Applied Sciences and Humanities (AJASH) recognizes the importance of data sharing in promoting transparency, reproducibility, and accountability in scholarly research. This policy aims to guide authors toward responsible and ethical data-sharing practices while respecting privacy, legal restrictions, and research integrity.

2. Scope of the Policy

This policy applies to all manuscripts that involve or produce original datasets, including quantitative and qualitative data, images, recordings, software, code, and statistical models developed or analyzed in the study.

3. Data Sharing Requirements

Authors are encouraged to make the datasets supporting their findings available. Authors must specify:

The repository where the data is stored.
How to access the data (direct link or DOI).
Any applicable license or reuse conditions.

Note: If data sharing is not possible (e.g., due to privacy, legal, or ethical constraints), authors must clearly state the reasons in the manuscript.

4. Recommended Data Repositories

Authors should use recognized and reliable data repositories such as:

- Zenodo
- Figshare
- Dryad
- Institutional or subject-specific repositories.

Or any platform that strictly adheres to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).

5. Data Availability Statement

Authors are required to include a "Data Availability Statement" at the end of their article that clarifies:

Are data available? Where & how to access? Under what license? If not available, why?

✔ Example if available: “The dataset used in this study is available in Zenodo at: [DOI link].”

✘ Example if not available: “Data cannot be shared due to participant confidentiality restrictions.”

6. Privacy and Intellectual Property

Authors must anonymize all sensitive personal data (e.g., participant names or medical records) before publication.
Compliance with national and international data protection laws (e.g., GDPR) is mandatory.
Authors must not share third-party data without explicit written permission.

7. Responsible Use of Shared Data

Authors are encouraged to use open licenses, such as Creative Commons CC BY 4.0, to facilitate reuse with proper attribution.
Misuse of shared data for commercial or harmful purposes is strictly prohibited without explicit permission.