Journal of Financial and Economic Dynamics (JFED) logo

Journal of Financial and Economic Dynamics (JFED)

Research Data Policy

1.Introduction

Sharing research data is a cornerstone of advancing scientific knowledge, fostering transparency, and ensuring reproducibility—principles that are particularly critical in finance and economics. In these fields, empirical validation and model replication serve as the foundation of scholarly rigor, enabling other researchers to verify findings, conduct meta-analyses, and build upon existing work. This accelerates scientific progress and strengthens public trust in research outcomes.

While core datasets are often presented within articles, a substantial portion of research materials—including raw data, simulation code, econometric scripts, and survey instruments—resides outside published manuscripts. This policy establishes a comprehensive framework for the sharing, preservation, discovery, and reuse of such research data, aligning with open science principles and the rigorous scholarly standards of finance and economics.

2.Definition of Research Data

Research data refers to any material collected, observed, generated, or processed during research that supports the validation or replication of findings. For JFED, this includes but is not limited to:

  • Numerical datasets (time-series, panel, cross-sectional, high-frequency financial data)
  • Code for simulations, econometric estimations, and data processing (e.g., R, Python, MATLAB, Stata)
  • Survey instruments, questionnaires, and sampling frameworks
  • Interview transcripts (where ethically permissible and compliant with consent agreements)
  • Algorithmic trading scripts and backtesting frameworks
  • Model specifications, calibration files, and parameterization details
  • Derived or processed data not fully included in the manuscript

2.Guiding Principles

The Journal of Financial and Economic Dynamics adheres to the following core principles for research data:

  • Open Access Priority: Research data should be made openly accessible whenever feasible, with minimal reuse restrictions, while upholding legal, ethical, and proprietary obligations.
  • Author Control & Attribution: Researchers retain control over their data, with clear mechanisms for citation and recognition of data-related contributions.
  • Discipline-Specific Accommodations: Norms unique to finance and economics—such as reliance on proprietary databases, confidential regulatory data, or simulated financial outputs—are respected and incorporated into policy implementation.
  • Stakeholder Collaboration: Effective data-sharing ecosystems require collaboration between authors, reviewers, publishers, data repositories, and academic institutions.
  • Curation & Interoperability: Data curation, comprehensive documentation, and adherence to interoperable standards enhance the long-term value and usability of shared data.
  • Scholarly Recognition: Contributions to data curation, annotation, and peer review are recognized as valuable scholarly achievements.

3.Journal Data Policy

In line with the above principles, JFED implements the following policy requirements and guidelines:

3.1 Encouragement of Data Sharing

  • Authors are strongly encouraged to share all data, code, and supplementary materials that underpin the results presented in their manuscripts.
  • Data sharing should occur at the earliest feasible stage—preferably upon manuscript submission, or no later than acceptance for publication.
  • Acceptable sharing channels include trusted data repositories, institutional archives, or the journal’s supplementary material platform.

3.2 Mandatory Data Availability Statements (DAS)

  • All accepted manuscripts must include a dedicated "Data Availability Statement" section immediately before the reference list.
  • The DAS must clearly specify:
  • Whether the supporting data and code are publicly available;
  • The persistent access location (e.g., repository name, DOI, or stable URL);
  • Any access restrictions, licensing terms, or conditions for reuse;
  • A detailed, valid justification if data cannot be shared (e.g., confidentiality agreements, proprietary licensing constraints, privacy regulations, or regulatory restrictions).

3. Recommended Data Repositories

To ensure long-term preservation, accessibility, and discoverability, authors are encouraged to deposit data in recognized repositories—preferably discipline-specific ones relevant to finance and economics:

  • ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)
  • Harvard Dataverse
  • SSRN eLibrary (for preprints, data, and code in finance/economics)
  • Zenodo or Figshare (general-purpose, with DOI assignment)
  • GitHub or GitLab (for code and computational materials, with archival DOI via Zenodo integration)
  • DRYAD
  • EconStor (specialized for economics and financial research)

4. Data and Software Citation

  • Datasets, code, and software that support the manuscript must be cited in the reference list, following JFED’s citation style.
  • Citations must include: authors, publication year, title, repository name, version number, and persistent identifier (DOI or stable URL) to ensure traceability.

5. Data Peer Review

  • Reviewers may be requested to assess the accessibility, completeness of documentation, and reproducibility of submitted data and code.
  • For manuscripts where data is central to the findings, the journal may invite specialized data reviewers to evaluate the quality, reusability, and compliance of shared materials.

6. Special Considerations for Financial and Economic Data

Given the unique nature of data in finance and economics, JFED provides the following accommodations:

6.1 Restricted/Proprietary Data:

For data subject to confidentiality, licensing, or regulatory constraints (e.g., SEC filings, Bloomberg/Refinitiv proprietary data, central bank data, or firm-specific confidential data), authors must:

  • Provide detailed, step-by-step instructions for authorized researchers to access equivalent data;
  • Where possible, share synthetic or anonymized datasets that preserve analytical utility without compromising confidentiality;
  • Submit replication code that can be run with legally obtainable or comparable public data.

6.2 Computational Studies:

For manuscripts relying on simulations, algorithmic models, or computational analyses, authors must provide complete, well-documented code and parameter files to enable full replication.

7. Recognition of Data-Related Contributions

  • JFED supports the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) and explicitly recognizes "Data Curation," "Software Development," and "Validation" as distinct, citable contributions.
  • Datasets and software associated with published articles are eligible for independent citation tracking, enabling authors to receive credit for data-sharing efforts.

8. Author Support Resources

The journal provides the following resources to assist authors in meeting data-sharing requirements:

  • Submission templates with pre-formatted Data Availability Statement sections;
  • Access to data management planning tools tailored to finance and economics research;
  • Guidance on selecting appropriate repositories, licensing options (e.g., CC BY, CC BY-NC), and data documentation standards;
  • Integration with key data repositories to streamline the deposition process where technically feasible.

9. Partnerships and Initiatives

JFED collaborates with leading organizations to advance data-sharing practices in finance and economics:

  • FORCE11, the Research Data Alliance (RDA), and GO FAIR to promote interoperable data standards;
  • DataCite to ensure persistent identification of datasets and software;
  • Institutional data services to align with funder and university data-sharing mandates.

10.Compliance and Ethics

  • Authors bear full responsibility for ensuring that data sharing complies with ethical standards, copyright laws, privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA), and funding agency requirements.
  • Misrepresentation of data availability (e.g., claiming data is accessible when it is not) or failure to provide access to shared data upon reasonable request may result in post-publication corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions, in line with JFED’s publishing ethics policy.