The quest for replicability: A review of research data policies in economics journals

• Main Authors: CHIN, Melody, DONG, Danping
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: research data policy; impact factor; economics; journal data policy; Economics; Scholarly Communication; Scholarly Publishing
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/library_research/147; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=library_research
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Research data openness serves as best practice and plays a critical role in facilitating the replicability and reproducibility of published research. In the field of Economics, journal data policies have been instrumental in encouraging the sharing of data and code, especially when the requirements are strict and enforceable. It is also evident that in recent years, increasing number of journals now has some form of research data policy in place. This paper attempts to analyze the data policies of the 74 general and field-specific Economics journals listed in the ranking database as part of the Tilburg University Top 100 Worldwide Economics Schools Research Ranking. A policy analysis will be conducted on the data submission and sharing requirements of the Tilburg journals. This will be carried out by identifying and analyzing types of policies in place and classifying them based on level of requirements for research data sharing. Journal Impact Factor for these journals will also be examined to investigate the potential relationship between data submission policies and journal impact performance. It is anticipated that the results will shed light on the types and range of data policies in place for key economic journals, as well as provide insights as to what extent such policies promote and incentivise data sharing practices amongst economics researchers.