Data access statements
Learn how to create an effective data access statement which links your publication to your research data.
What is a data access statement?
A data access statements, sometimes called a data availability statement, is used in publications to describe where supporting research data (including code, images, sounds, textual records, objects, etc.) can be found and under what conditions they can be accessed.
A good data access statement (DAS) should:
- Describe where data can be accessed (often in a data repository)
- Provide information on any restrictions or conditions for data access with a justifiable explanation
- Include a persistent identifier (such as a DOI, an accession number, or a link to the permanent record)
A data access statement is increasingly a requirement of research funders and publishers, even where the study generated no original research data, or the data is restricted or otherwise not accessible.
We also recommend that you include a full citation to the data in your main references list.
Example statements
| Scenario | Example |
| Openly available data | All data underpinning this publication are openly available from the University of Salford Figshare at https://doi.org/10.17866/rd.salford.12345678 |
| Embargoed data | All data underpinning this publication will be available from the University of Salford Figshare at http://doi.org/10. 17866/rd.salford.12345678 from 01/03/2025 following a 6 month embargo |
| Restricted data | Data underpinning this study are available from the University of Salford Figshare at http://doi.org/10. 17866/rd.salford.12345678. Access to the data is subject to approval and a data sharing agreement due to the [ethically/legally/commercially] sensitive nature of the data |
| Secondary data | Pre-existing data underpinning this publication are openly available from UKDS at http://doi.org/10.12345/54321. Further information about data processing are available from the University of Salford Figshare at http://doi.org/10. 17866/rd.salford.12345678 |
| No new data created | No new data were generated or analysed during this study |
| Data available upon request* | Data supporting this study are not publicly available due to [ethical/legal/commercial] reasons. Please contact research-group@salford.ac.uk to request access |
*Data available upon request statements are not recommended by the University. Research suggests this format of DAS to be an ineffective method of providing access to underlying research data. Furthermore, some funders, such as EPSRC, and certain publishers, will not consider a data available upon request statement to be acceptable. If you decide to use this format, consider using a shared research group or departmental email address to ensure there is an enduring route of access to the data.
Publications
As set out in the Research Data Management Policy, researchers are strongly encouraged to include a data access statement with information on the data that underpins the research findings in their publication. This includes where the study has generated no new data, or the data is restricted or not accessible. You should pay particular attention to funder requirements: UKRI and other major funders and publishers require papers to include a data access statement.
Theses
Postgraduate researchers are strongly encouraged to include a data access statement with information on the data that underpins the research findings in their thesis.
Where you have been unable to include the data underpinning your research findings in the thesis itself, you should take steps to deposit the data in a suitable repository and ensure that your data access statement provides information on how and where to access the data.