Research Data Policy

IJMIE supports open, reproducible materials research. Every research article states how the data behind its findings can be accessed, and authors are encouraged to share those data openly wherever possible.

Data Availability Statement

Every research article must include a data availability statement explaining where and how the data supporting its results can be accessed. For example:

  • “The data supporting the findings of this study are openly available in [repository name] at https://doi.org/[DOI].”
  • “The data are available within the article and its supplementary material.”
  • “The data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.”
  • “The data cannot be shared because of [confidentiality, commercial or legal] restrictions.”

The statement is entered in the Data Availability field of the submission form and is published with the article.

Where to Share Data

We encourage deposit in a recognized repository that assigns persistent identifiers, with the dataset cited in the reference list. Suitable options include:

  • general repositories such as Zenodo, Figshare, Mendeley Data and Dryad;
  • materials resources such as Materials Cloud and NOMAD for computational data, and the Cambridge Structural Database or the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database for crystal structures;
  • institutional or national data repositories.

Shared data should follow the FAIR principles: findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.

What to Share

  • The numerical data behind figures and tables (for example diffraction patterns, spectra, stress–strain curves and property measurements) in a reusable format, not only as images.
  • Processing and synthesis parameters, and the instrument settings needed to interpret characterization data.
  • Crystallographic information files (CIF) for new crystal structures, deposited in the appropriate database.
  • For computational work, input files, key parameters and, where possible, the code and its version.

Code and Software

Software or code developed for the research should, where possible, be shared in a public repository with a licence and a version identifier, and cited in the article.

Exceptions

Some data cannot be shared openly, for example because of confidentiality, commercial agreements or national regulations. The data availability statement should then explain the restriction and any conditions under which access may be granted.

Editorial Checks

Editors and reviewers may ask to see the underlying data during peer review, and a refusal to provide data needed to evaluate the work may lead to rejection. Concerns about data raised after publication are handled under our Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.