From Policy to Practice: Progress towards Data- and Code-Sharing in Ecology and Evolution
Proc. R. Soc. B 292: 20251394
published article
pre-registered
data available
code available
Ilias Berberi 
Antica Čulina
Dominique G. Roche
Rafaela Almeida
Bawan Amin
Kevin R. Bairos‐Novak
Heikel Balti
Michael G. Bertram
Louis Bliard
Ilha Byrne
Ying‐Chi Chan
William G. Cioffi
Quentin Corbel
Alexander Elsy
Katie R. N. Florko
Elliot Gould
Matthew Grainger
Anne E. Harshbarger
Knut Anders Hovstad
Jake M. Martin
April Robin Martinig
Giulia Masoero
Iain R. Moodie
David Moreau
Rose E. O’Dea
Matthieu Paquet
Joel L. Pick
Tuba Rizvi
Inês Silva
Birgit Szabo
Elina Takola
Eli S.J. Thoré
Wilco C. E. P. Verberk
Saras M. Windecker
Gabe Winter
Zuzana Zajková
Romy Zeiss
Abstract
Data and code are essential for ensuring the credibility of scientific results and facilitating reproducibility, areas in which journal sharing policies play a crucial role. However, in ecology and evolution, we still do not know how widespread data- and code-sharing policies are, how accessible they are, and whether journals support data and code peer review. Here, we first assessed the clarity, strictness and timing of data- and code-sharing policies across 275 journals in ecology and evolution. Second, we assessed initial compliance to journal policies using submissions from two journals: Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Mar 2023–Feb 2024: n = 2340) and Ecology Letters (Jun 2021–Nov 2023: n = 571). Our results indicate the need for improvement: across 275 journals, 22.5% encouraged and 38.2% mandated data-sharing, while 26.6% encouraged and 26.9% mandated code-sharing. Journals that mandated data- or code-sharing typically required it for peer review (59.0% and 77.0%, respectively), which decreased when journals only encouraged sharing (40.3% and 24.7%, respectively). Our evaluation of policy compliance confirmed the important role of journals in increasing data- and code-sharing but also indicated the need for meaningful changes to enhance reproducibility. We provide seven recommendations to help improve data- and code-sharing, and policy compliance.
Citation
BibTeX citation:
@article{ivimey‐cook2025,
author = {Ivimey‐Cook, Edward and Sánchez‐Tójar, Alfredo and Berberi,
Ilias and Čulina, Antica and Roche, Dominique G. and Almeida,
Rafaela and Amin, Bawan and Bairos‐Novak, Kevin R. and Balti, Heikel
and Bertram, Michael G. and Bliard, Louis and Byrne, Ilha and Chan,
Ying‐Chi and Cioffi, William G. and Corbel, Quentin and Elsy,
Alexander and Florko, Katie R. N. and Gould, Elliot and Grainger,
Matthew and Harshbarger, Anne E. and Hovstad, Knut Anders and
Martin, Jake M. and Martinig, April Robin and Masoero, Giulia and
Moodie, Iain R. and Moreau, David and O’Dea, Rose E. and Paquet,
Matthieu and Pick, Joel L. and Rizvi, Tuba and Silva, Inês and
Szabo, Birgit and Takola, Elina and Thoré, Eli S.J. and Verberk,
Wilco C. E. P. and Windecker, Saras M. and Winter, Gabe and Zajková,
Zuzana and Zeiss, Romy and Moran, Nicholas P.},
publisher = {Royal Society},
title = {From Policy to Practice: Progress Towards Data- and
Code-Sharing in Ecology and Evolution},
journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences},
volume = {292},
number = {2055},
pages = {20251394},
date = {2025-09-17},
url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2025.1394},
doi = {10.1098/rspb.2025.1394},
langid = {en},
abstract = {Data and code are essential for ensuring the credibility
of scientific results and facilitating reproducibility, areas in
which journal sharing policies play a crucial role. However, in
ecology and evolution, we still do not know how widespread data- and
code-sharing policies are, how accessible they are, and whether
journals support data and code peer review. Here, we first assessed
the clarity, strictness and timing of data- and code-sharing
policies across 275 journals in ecology and evolution. Second, we
assessed initial compliance to journal policies using submissions
from two journals: Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Mar 2023–Feb
2024: n = 2340) and Ecology Letters (Jun 2021–Nov 2023: n = 571).
Our results indicate the need for improvement: across 275 journals,
22.5\% encouraged and 38.2\% mandated data-sharing, while 26.6\%
encouraged and 26.9\% mandated code-sharing. Journals that mandated
data- or code-sharing typically required it for peer review (59.0\%
and 77.0\%, respectively), which decreased when journals only
encouraged sharing (40.3\% and 24.7\%, respectively). Our evaluation
of policy compliance confirmed the important role of journals in
increasing data- and code-sharing but also indicated the need for
meaningful changes to enhance reproducibility. We provide seven
recommendations to help improve data- and code-sharing, and policy
compliance.}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Ivimey‐Cook, E., A. Sánchez‐Tójar, I. Berberi, A. Čulina, D. G. Roche,
R. Almeida, B. Amin, et al. 2025. From policy to practice:
progress towards data- and code-sharing in ecology and evolution.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292:20251394.