Content integrity: an embedded approach Integrity goes beyond mere research integrity; it is an embedded approach involving all teams. The BMJ Group Content Integrity team supports journal editors, production, systems, legal, and technical teams through training and specialised advice, ensuring consistent, high-quality research publication. Integrity is a collective responsibility, with publicly accessible policies and author guidance available on the BMJ Author Hub . Investigations into potential issues are thorough, involving pre- and post-publication scrutiny, collaboration with editors, and input from technical experts, ensuring careful and timely corrections or retractions when necessary. The BMJ’s mandatory data and code sharing policy: making improvements in research integrity and quality The case for sharing data from clinical research is strong. 12 Clinical study data includes all information collected during a study, which is then analysed using computer codes to generate results. Unimpeded access to data and code across the research community maximises the value of each research project. Since 2013, The BMJ has required that authors of drug and device trials published in the journal agree to share relevant trial data upon reasonable request. In 2015, this requirement extended to all clinical trials published in the journal. Sadly, not all authors honoured this promise, and trial data sharing remains disappointingly low. That’s why, from May 2024, we implemented a formal policy that enforces authors of all submitted trials to post relevant trial data 13 in an enduring, publicly accessible repository before publication. The new BMJ Group policy on sharing data from drug and device trials mandates that authors must provide access to the underlying data for drug and device trials as a condition for publication. This initiative helps to enhance the credibility of published research, promote independent verification of results, and ultimately improve patient care by ensuring that clinical decisions are based on complete and accessible evidence.
Open data is very important to us, and we anticipate the impact of the open data and code sharing policy will be threefold: Enhanced transparency and reproducibility: The policy requiring the sharing of data and code ensures that other researchers can verify and replicate study results. This transparency helps identify errors, validate findings, and build on previous work, thereby strengthening the reliability of scientific research. Increased collaboration and innovation: Open access to data and code facilitates greater collaboration among researchers across different institutions and disciplines. This openness can lead to innovative approaches, discoveries, and the rapid advancement of knowledge, as researchers can easily build on each other’s work. Improved trust and accountability: The policy promotes accountability by making researchers’ methodologies and data publicly accessible. This openness helps to deter misconduct, such as data fabrication or selective reporting, and increases public trust in scientific research by demonstrating a commitment to rigorous and ethical practices.
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