Authors should include a Data Availability Statement explaining whether supporting data are publicly available, available on reasonable request, included within the article or supplementary files, or subject to justified access restrictions.

Research data must be authentic, accurate, and appropriately documented. Fabrication, falsification, selective alteration, deceptive manipulation, or misrepresentation of research data is prohibited.

Where ethically, legally, and contractually appropriate, authors are encouraged to deposit supporting research data in a recognized institutional, disciplinary, or general-purpose repository and provide a persistent identifier or stable link where available.

Personal data, financial information, confidential organizational records, proprietary business information, or other sensitive data must not be publicly disclosed when disclosure would violate participant consent, privacy, contractual duties, ethical requirements, or applicable law.

Editors may request underlying data, research instruments, statistical outputs, or supporting documentation where reasonably necessary to evaluate a manuscript's reliability or investigate a research-integrity concern. Access remains subject to confidentiality and ethical safeguards.

Publicly available datasets that materially contribute to the research should be appropriately acknowledged or cited. Dataset citations should provide sufficient information to allow readers to identify the data source.

Authors should retain underlying research records for a reasonable period consistent with institutional, funder, disciplinary, contractual, and legal requirements so that legitimate questions concerning the research can be addressed.