Data Availability Policy

Journal: Joining and Corrosion Protection (JCP)

Policy Version: 1.0

Effective Date: June 2026

1. Purpose

Joining and Corrosion Protection (JCP) supports the principles of research transparency, reproducibility, and responsible data sharing.

The journal encourages authors to make the data underlying their research findings available whenever possible and requires all submissions to include a Data Availability Statement.

This policy applies to all article types published in the journal.

2. Data Availability Statement Requirement

2.1 Mandatory Statement

All manuscripts submitted to JCP must include a Data Availability Statement (DAS).

The statement should describe:

• whether supporting data are available;
• where the data can be accessed;
• any restrictions on access;
• conditions for reuse where applicable.

Manuscripts submitted without a Data Availability Statement may be returned to the authors before peer review.

2.2 Location of the Statement

The Data Availability Statement should appear in the manuscript immediately before the References section.

The heading should be:

Data Availability Statement

or

Data Availability

3. What Data Should Be Shared?

Authors are encouraged to share data that support the conclusions of the study, including:

• experimental measurements;
• laboratory test results;
• corrosion testing datasets;
• welding and joining process data;
• computational modelling results;
• simulation datasets;
• image datasets;
• supplementary figures and tables;
• custom code and software scripts where relevant.

Authors should ensure that shared data are sufficiently documented to enable understanding and reuse.

4. Accepted Data Availability Statements

Option A – Data in a Public Repository

"The data supporting the findings of this study are openly available in [Repository Name] at [DOI or URL]."

Recommended Repositories

The journal recommends repositories that provide long-term preservation and persistent identifiers (DOIs), including:

• Zenodo
• Figshare
• Dryad
• Mendeley Data
• Materials Data Facility (MDF)

Discipline-specific repositories may also be used where appropriate.

Option B – Data Available Upon Reasonable Request

"The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request."

This option should be used only when public sharing is not practical.

Authors choosing this option should be prepared to provide data within a reasonable timeframe.

Option C – Data Included in the Article

"All data supporting the findings of this study are contained within the article and its supplementary materials."

Option D – Third-Party Data

"The data used in this study were obtained from a third party and are subject to restrictions. Data may be obtained from the original provider with appropriate permission."

Option E – Restricted Data

"The data supporting the findings of this study are not publicly available due to legal, commercial, confidentiality, or contractual restrictions."

Authors must provide a clear justification when selecting this option.

5. FAIR Data Principles

JCP encourages authors to follow the FAIR principles whenever possible.

Research data should be:

• Findable
• Accessible
• Interoperable
• Reusable

The use of recognized repositories and persistent identifiers is strongly encouraged.

6. Data Citation

Datasets that are publicly available should be cited in the reference list whenever possible.

Data citations should include:

• author(s);
• dataset title;
• repository name;
• publication year;
• DOI or accession number.

Proper citation ensures that datasets receive appropriate academic credit.

7. Code and Software Availability

Where custom software, scripts, or computational workflows are essential to the reported findings, authors are encouraged to make these materials available through:

• GitHub
• GitLab
• Zenodo
• institutional repositories

Authors should provide sufficient information to enable replication of the reported work.

8. Editorial Review of Data

Editors and reviewers may request:

• raw experimental data;
• original images;
• supporting calculations;
• software code;
• additional documentation

during peer review if clarification is required.

Failure to provide requested supporting information may affect editorial decisions.

9. Exceptions

The journal recognizes that some datasets cannot be shared openly.

Acceptable reasons may include:

• confidentiality agreements;
• commercial or industrial restrictions;
• proprietary technologies;
• legal obligations;
• security-related limitations.

Authors should explain these restrictions clearly in the Data Availability Statement.

10. Research Integrity

The availability of supporting data is an important component of research integrity.

Authors may be asked to provide supporting data in cases involving:

• questions regarding reproducibility;
• image integrity concerns;
• allegations of fabrication or falsification;
• post-publication investigations.

Requests for supporting data may occur before or after publication.

11. Compliance

Failure to comply with this policy may result in:

• delays in peer review;
• requests for revision;
• manuscript rejection;
• publication corrections;
• retraction of published articles where appropriate.

12. Contact

Questions regarding data sharing or this policy may be directed to:

Editorial Office

Joining and Corrosion Protection (JCP)

Email: jcp@sunlitpub.com