Research Data Management

The journal Materials and Technology supports open access to research data. Research data include all materials generated, collected, or processed during research activities for the purpose of understanding, testing, or validating hypotheses. These may take many forms - numerical datasets, image data, software code, and more.

Data Availability

In accordance with the Decree on the implementation of scientific research work in line with open science principles, and the requirements of the journal’s co-funder (the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency), authors must ensure that all research data underlying their article are openly accessible prior to publication.

All datasets must follow the FAIR principles: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. The Decree specifies that research data should be made available “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.”

If research data cannot be fully shared for legal, ethical, or other justified reasons, authors must explain the restrictions in the data availability statement. Examples include personal data, confidential business information, protection of intellectual property.

Data Availability Statement

Authors must include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript. Please select the appropriate option below and adapt it as necessary.

  • Open research data:
    “The research data supporting the findings of this study are openly available in the [name of repository] at [persistent identifier (DOI, handle, etc.)].”
  • Data not publicly available:
    “The research data are not publicly available due to [reason, e.g., confidentiality, legal restrictions, protection of personal data, intellectual property protection, or contractual obligations]. Metadata have been deposited in the [name of repository] at [persistent identifier (DOI, handle, etc.)].”
  • Partially available data (optional, advanced case):
    “Some of the research data are available in the [name of repository] at [persistent identifier (DOI, handle, etc.)], while other data are not publicly available due to [reason, e.g., confidentiality, legal restrictions, protection of personal data, intellectual property protection, or contractual obligations].”
  • Data not generated:
    “No research data were generated or analysed in this article, as the work was conducted theoretically.”

Data Formats and Documentation

Authors must deposit all research data underlying their manuscript in open, standardized, and non-proprietary formats wherever possible. To ensure transparency, reproducibility, and facilitate reuse, datasets must be accompanied by sufficient documentation (e.g., metadata records, README files, or other descriptive materials) that enables other researchers to interpret and reuse the data.

The documentation must include:

  • a concise description of the dataset and its intended purpose
  • definitions of variables, symbols, and units of measurement
  • detailed information on the methods used to collect or generate the data
  • information on any software, tools, or specific versions required to access, view, or process the dataset

Data Citation

Authors must provide full citations for all datasets referenced or generated in the study. All dataset citations must be included in the reference list. Each citation must contain the following elements:

  • Author(s)
  • Year of publication
  • Title of the dataset
  • Repository
  • Persistent identifier (e.g., DOI, handle)

Example:

Surname1, N., Surname2, N., & Surname3, N. (yyyy). Dataset: Manuscript title. Repository Name. https://doi.org/xxxx

Trusted Data Repositories

Authors are required to deposit their datasets in trusted repositories that ensure appropriate access and long-term preservation.

When publishing research data, we recommend using the Creative Commons licenses CC BY 4.0 or CC0 1.0 (when metadata are available only), or a license with equivalent rights. The editorial board of the journal Materials and Technology also recommend the depositing of data in Zenodo, but authors can search for a suitable repository using tools such as FAIRsharing or re3data.

For Slovenian researchers, the editorial board recommend depositing data in one of the following national repositories:

Responsibilities of Authors, Editors, and Reviewers

Authors must make all research data available to editors and reviewers during the submission process. The final version of the research data must be published in an appropriate repository at the time of the article’s publication.

Editors and reviewers are responsible for ensuring that any research data underlying the article—whether generated by the authors or obtained from third parties—are properly cited. If data are missing or improperly referenced, authors will be asked to revise the dataset.

Additional information

For any additional questions or clarifications, correspondence should be addressed to the editorial office (mit@imt.si).