Scientific Data is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal for descriptions of scientifically valuable datasets, and research that advances the sharing and reuse of scientific data. We aim to promote wider data sharing and reuse, and to credit those that share.

Find out more about the key principles that drive Scientific Data

Scientific Data primarily publishes Data Descriptors, a new type of publication that provides detailed descriptions of research datasets, including the methods used to collect the data and technical analyses supporting the quality of the measurements. Data Descriptors focus on helping others reuse data, rather than testing hypotheses, or presenting new interpretations, methods or in-depth analyses.

Scientific Data also welcomes submissions describing analyses or meta-analyses of existing data, and original articles on systems, technologies and techniques that advance data sharing and reuse to support reproducible research.

Scientific Data offers a streamlined but thorough peer-review process that evaluates the rigour and quality of the experiments used to generate the data and the completeness of the description of the data. The actual data are stored in one or more public, community-recognized repositories, and release of the data is verified as a condition of publication.

Scientific Data is open to submissions from a broad range of natural science disciplines, including, but not limited to, data from the life, biomedical and environmental science communities. Submissions may describe big or small data, from new experiments or value-added aggregations of existing data, from major consortiums and single labs. We are also willing to consider descriptions of quantitative datasets from the social sciences, particularly those that may be of use for integrative analyses that stretch across the traditional discipline boundaries between the life, biomedical, environmental and social sciences.

Data Descriptors may describe data from new or published studies, and can be published alongside traditional research works. Data Descriptors that describe previously published datasets must provide new content sufficient to merit further publication: for example, updates to important datasets, fuller release of a dataset, or additional information that aids reuse. Please see our policies on complementary and prior publication.