Open Science Policy

Open Science practices promote transparency and the reproducibility of knowledge; therefore, the journal has adopted the following practices:

  • Self-archiving and storage in open repositories.
  • Use of interoperable electronic publishing formats: XML, XML-JATS, HTML.
  • Open data policies and availability of research materials.
  • Adoption of a continuous publication model.
  • Transparency practices for contributions (use of taxonomies such as CRediT).
  • Transparency in research funding.

Starting from September 2024, Acta Botanica Mexicana will incorporate in its editorial policies the recommendation that authors of manuscripts submitted for publication deposit the data necessary to replicate or validate the research results to which they are related. Beginning in September 2025, depositing the data will be mandatory.

 

Definition of Open Data

Acta Botanica Mexicana defines open data in accordance with Griffith University (Australia) as follows: “Research data are concrete records, which can take the form of numbers, symbols, text, images, or sounds, used as primary sources of research, and are commonly accepted by the research community as necessary for the validation of research findings.” These can be primary data (unprocessed, originating from measurements or instruments; for example, surveys, observations, field notes, experimental data, measurements, audio records), processed data (having been translated, cleaned, verified, validated, transcribed, digitized, anonymized), or analyzed data (final format available for use and reuse; for example, charts, tables, texts, graphs, models) (CEPAL, 2020).

FAIR Principles

The aim of requesting open data from authors is to ensure that the data supporting the published manuscripts adhere to the FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability), which represent the ease of searching, accessing, interoperating, and reusing data or datasets. Applying FAIR principles will help others to find, cite, and reuse the data or datasets.

 

Open Data Repository

Acta Botanica Mexicana designates the SciELO Mexico Data Repository, SciELO Data Dataverse, as the chosen site for continuing the adoption of best practices related to the access, reuse, and communication of research data.

 

Preparation of Research Data Files

Refer to the research data preparation guide: https://wp.scielo.org/wp-content/uploads/Guia_preparacao_en.pdf

 

Creative Commons License for Research Data Files

All research data files will be licensed under CC BY, allowing you to share and adapt the content, even for commercial purposes, as long as appropriate credit is given, the license link is shared, and any modifications are specified, and the final product does not restrict what the original license permits.

 

When, how and where should the author submit the open data?

Authors must submit their data to Dataverse before submitting their manuscript to Acta Botanica Mexicana. Go to https://data.scielo.org/dataverse/mxabm, register and upload your data. The DOI(s) of your databases should be included in the Data Availability Declaration section, with the understanding that the data will only be published in Dataverse simultaneously with the publication of your article in Acta Botanica Mexicana. Therefore, before publication of your article, your data will only be visible to authors, editors and reviewers. If your article is rejected, the data will not be published. In the case of data that are confidential or involve confidentiality agreements, authors must include a justified request to not publish them in their originality letter to the editor-in-chief.

You can consult the research data repository guide.

You can download the Readme file template here.

In the Manuscript: Where to Include Information on Open Data?

In this context, in the manuscript, immediately before the Literature cited section, insert the heading “Data Availability Statement.” This section should include the identifier(s) where the open data related to the submitted manuscript can be accessed.

 

Citing Open Data

Each dataset should be cited independently. Citations of the data used should be included in the Literature cited section of the manuscript to which they are linked. References for these data are constructed following the Harvard system with modifications, just as references are handled in the body of the manuscript.

 

Example:

Authors. Year. Title. Resource Type (Dataset). Version Date. Repository. Unique and Persistent Identifier.

 

Example:

Mayoral Loera, P. and I. Zavala. 2024. How to Cite Open Data in an Article for *Acta Botanica Mexicana*. (Dataset). Version of August 12, 2024. Dataverse SciELO. DOI: xx.