1. Policy Statement

The Journal of Integrated Elementary Education (JIEEd) is committed to promoting research transparency, scientific integrity, reproducibility, and responsible management of research data.

The journal recognizes that the accessibility and appropriate documentation of research data contribute to the credibility, verification, and continued development of scholarly knowledge.

JIEEd encourages authors to make research data supporting their published findings accessible whenever legally, ethically, and practically appropriate.

However, open data sharing is not mandatory when disclosure would compromise participant confidentiality, children's privacy, institutional obligations, intellectual property rights, or other legitimate ethical and legal protections.

This policy establishes requirements and recommendations for research data availability, documentation, storage, sharing, citation, protection, and editorial verification.

It is informed by the FAIR Data Principles—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable—and internationally recognized principles of research integrity and scholarly publishing.

2. Scope and Definition of Research Data

This policy applies to manuscripts submitted to or published in JIEEd, including Original Research Articles and Review Articles.

Research data refer to materials collected, observed, generated, processed, or analyzed to support the findings and conclusions of a scholarly investigation.

In elementary education research, these may include:

Quantitative datasets, assessment scores, and statistical results.
Survey responses and questionnaire data.
Classroom observation records.
Interview and focus-group transcripts.
Field notes and qualitative coding records.
Teaching intervention and assessment documentation.
Research instruments and analytical protocols.
Educational documents and curriculum-related records.
Audio, video, or photographic research materials.
Data extraction tables and evidence-synthesis records.
Statistical scripts, analytical code, and computational workflows.

For the purposes of data sharing, the relevant research data generally consist of the information reasonably necessary to understand, verify, or evaluate the principal findings, subject to ethical and legal restrictions.

The journal does not require authors to disclose every raw research record or confidential source document.

3. Principles of Responsible Research Data Management

JIEEd promotes the following principles.

3.1 Transparency

Authors should clearly identify the data supporting their findings and explain how those data were collected, processed, analyzed, and made available.

3.2 Scientific Integrity

Research data must be authentic, accurately represented, and protected against fabrication, falsification, unauthorized manipulation, or misleading reporting.

3.3 Reproducibility and Verification

Authors should provide sufficient methodological and analytical information to enable readers to understand and critically evaluate the research procedures and conclusions.

3.4 Ethical Protection

Data management and sharing must respect participant rights, informed consent, confidentiality, institutional requirements, and applicable data-protection regulations.

3.5 Responsible Accessibility

Research data should be made accessible when appropriate, but legitimate restrictions must be respected.

Restricted access can be consistent with responsible and transparent data management.

3.6 Appropriate Attribution

Data creators and relevant third parties must receive proper acknowledgment and citation.

3.7 Long-Term Stewardship

Authors should manage and preserve research records according to applicable institutional, funding, ethical, and legal requirements.

4. Data Availability Statement

Authors must provide an accurate Data Availability Statement when research data underpin the findings or conclusions presented in a manuscript.

For Original Research Articles, the statement should explain the availability of the data generated or analyzed during the study.

For Review Articles, it should identify the availability of relevant evidence-extraction records, synthesis datasets, analytical materials, or other research data, where applicable.

When no independent dataset was generated or analyzed, authors should state that data sharing is not applicable.

4.1 Required Information

A Data Availability Statement should indicate:

Whether supporting research data is available.
Where the data are stored or accessible.
Whether access is open, restricted, or available upon reasonable request.
The relevant repository link or persistent identifier, where applicable.
Any ethical, legal, privacy, or institutional restrictions.
The conditions and appropriate contact for requesting restricted data, where such requests are permitted.

Statements must accurately reflect the actual availability of the data.

4.2 Recommended Location

The Data Availability Statement should appear in the manuscript's declaration section, following the official JIEEd Article Template.

Relevant data access information should also be included in OJS submission metadata when requested.

4.3 Acceptable Data Availability Arrangements

Data Arrangement	Policy Requirement
Open Repository	Provide the repository name and persistent dataset link.
Supplementary Materials	Identify the files accompanying the published article.
Controlled Access	Explain applicable restrictions and access procedures.
Available on Request	Identify the responsible contact and conditions for access.
Third-Party Data	Identify the data provider and relevant access or licensing restrictions.
No Applicable Dataset	Explain that no independent dataset was generated or analyzed.

A Data Availability Statement does not automatically require unrestricted public access.

5. Examples of Data Availability Statements

The following examples are provided to help authors prepare accurate and transparent declarations.

Example A — Data in an Open Repository

The datasets generated and analyzed during this study are available in the [Repository Name] repository at [persistent dataset URL or DOI]. The repository record includes the supporting documentation necessary to interpret the data.

Example B — Data Included in the Article

The data supporting the findings of this study are included in the published article and its supplementary materials.

Example C — Data Available upon Reasonable Request

The supporting data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to applicable ethical, institutional, and data-protection requirements.

Example D — Restricted Data Involving Children

The datasets generated during this study are not publicly available because they contain information relating to elementary school students and are subject to confidentiality and consent restrictions. Access to appropriately protected data may be considered upon reasonable request, subject to institutional authorization and applicable ethical requirements.

Example E — Third-Party Data

The data analyzed in this study were obtained from [Data Provider]. Access is subject to the provider's applicable permissions and licensing conditions. Further information is available at [official data source or access link].

Example F — Review Article

The data extraction matrix and supporting synthesis materials used in this review are available at [repository link], subject to applicable third-party copyright restrictions.

Example G — No Independent Dataset

Data sharing does not apply to this article because no independent research dataset was generated or analyzed.

Important: Authors must select or adapt the statement that accurately reflects their actual research. A declaration must not promise access that cannot lawfully or ethically be provided.

6. Data Requirements for Original Research Articles

Original Research Articles should provide sufficient information for the scientific evaluation of their findings.

The specific data-management requirements depend on the research design.

6.1 Quantitative Research

Authors should adequately document:

Data sources and sample characteristics.
Variables and measurement procedures.
Research instruments and scoring methods.
Relevant data-cleaning procedures.
Statistical methods and analytical assumptions.
Software or analytical code where relevant.
Appropriate quality-control procedures.

Where ethically permissible, authors are encouraged to share anonymized or aggregated datasets and analytical materials that support the principal findings.

Authors must not disclose identifiable student information merely to satisfy expectations of data transparency.

6.2 Qualitative Research

Authors should explain the procedures used to collect, organize, code, analyze, and interpret qualitative evidence.

Relevant materials may include:

Interview or observation protocols.
Coding frameworks.
Thematic matrices.
Analytical procedures.
Appropriately anonymized evidence extracts.
Documentation of credibility or trustworthiness procedures.

Full interview transcripts, recordings, and detailed field notes should not be shared publicly when disclosure could identify participants or violate consent and confidentiality requirements.

6.3 Mixed-Methods Research

Mixed-methods studies should describe how quantitative and qualitative data were collected, analyzed, and integrated.

The Data Availability Statement should address the relevant datasets and their access conditions.

Restrictions may differ across components of the same study.

6.4 Intervention and Classroom-Based Research

Research involving teaching interventions should provide adequate information about instructional procedures, instruments, implementation, and evaluation.

Where possible, authors are encouraged to make non-confidential teaching materials, assessment rubrics, or analytical documentation accessible.

However, student work, classroom recordings, individual assessment results, and identifiable institutional information must be protected.

7. Data Requirements for Review Articles

Review Articles must support their conclusions with transparent, reproducible evidence-identification and synthesis procedures appropriate to the review design.

Where applicable, authors should document:

Information sources and databases.
Search strategies and search dates.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Study-selection procedures.
Data extraction or coding methods.
Quality appraisal or risk-of-bias procedures.
Synthesis methods and analytical decisions.
Relevant evidence tables and supplementary materials.

7.1 Systematic Reviews

Systematic reviews should provide sufficient information to enable readers to understand and evaluate the identification, selection, and synthesis of relevant research evidence.

Where appropriate, supporting materials may include reproducible search strings, screening records, study-characteristic tables, and evidence-extraction matrices.

Authors should follow applicable reporting guidance, including PRISMA 2020.

7.2 Scoping Reviews

Scoping reviews should transparently document their search, selection, charting, and evidence-mapping procedures, following PRISMA-ScR where appropriate.

7.3 Copyright and Third-Party Restrictions

Authors must not redistribute copyrighted full-text articles, restricted database records, or licensed materials without appropriate authorization.

Sharing an original extraction or synthesis table does not automatically authorize reproduction of the underlying publications.

Research data transparency must remain consistent with intellectual property rights and applicable licensing conditions.

8. Data Protection in Research Involving Children

JIEEd places particular emphasis on ethical safeguards for research involving elementary school students.

Children are a vulnerable population in many research contexts, and the protection of their welfare, identity, dignity, and personal information must take priority over unrestricted data sharing.

8.1 Protected Research Data

Sensitive or identifiable information may include:

Student names and identification numbers.
Individual academic records and assessment results.
Photographs, audio recordings, and classroom videos.
Interview transcripts containing identifiable experiences.
Information about family circumstances.
Information concerning disability, health, behavior, or other sensitive characteristics.
School records and confidential institutional documents.
Combinations of indirect identifiers that could reasonably identify participants.

8.2 Consent and Authorization

Authors must ensure that data processing and sharing are consistent with applicable ethical approvals, institutional permissions, and consent arrangements.

Where required, parental or legal guardian consent and age-appropriate child assent must be obtained.

Permission to collect data for research does not automatically authorize unrestricted publication or public sharing of those data.

8.3 Anonymization and Re-Identification Risks

Authors should apply appropriate anonymization or de-identification procedures before sharing participant data.

However, removal of names alone does not necessarily eliminate identification risks.

Information about a small school, individual classroom, unique participant characteristics, or distinctive experiences may enable indirect identification.

Where meaningful privacy risks remain, controlled access or non-disclosure may be more appropriate than public release.

8.4 Ethical Priority

JIEEd does not require the public release of identifiable or confidential data involving children.

Authors should provide an appropriate Data Availability Statement explaining legitimate restrictions.

The journal will not treat ethically justified data restrictions as evidence of inadequate research quality by themselves.

9. Open Data and Research Repositories

JIEEd encourages the responsible deposit of supporting research data in established repositories when sharing is scientifically useful and ethically permissible.

Suitable repositories may include recognized institutional, disciplinary, or general-purpose research data repositories.

9.1 Repository Selection

Authors should consider repositories that provide:

Persistent access links or identifiers.
Clear information about data ownership.
Appropriate metadata and documentation.
Stable storage and preservation procedures.
Transparent access and licensing conditions.
Suitable options for restricted access are provided where needed.
Appropriate security and privacy safeguards.

Examples of general research repositories include Zenodo, OSF, Figshare, and Dataverse, subject to the availability of relevant services and the suitability of each repository for the dataset.

These examples do not constitute mandatory repositories or institutional endorsements by JIEEd.

9.2 Public and Restricted Access

Authors may select open or controlled access according to the nature of the research data.

Where restrictions apply, authors should explain the reason for those restrictions and any lawful and ethically appropriate access procedure.

Where possible, a repository metadata record may remain publicly discoverable even when the underlying dataset is restricted.

9.3 Repository Links

When a dataset has been deposited in a repository, authors should include a functioning persistent link or DOI in the Data Availability Statement.

Repository records should contain enough descriptive information to identify the relationship between the dataset and the published article.

10. Data Documentation and Reproducibility

JIEEd encourages authors to maintain research documentation that supports the understanding and verification of the reported findings.

Depending on the research design, relevant documentation may include:

Data dictionaries and variable definitions.
Research instruments and scoring procedures.
Collection and sampling protocols.
Data-cleaning and transformation descriptions.
Qualitative coding frameworks.
Statistical scripts and analytical code.
Software and relevant version information.
Research protocols and methodological decisions.
Information necessary to interpret supplementary files.

10.1 Reproducibility Expectations

Reproducibility does not require all educational research to use identical methodologies or produce identical findings.

Quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and review-based investigations have different standards of methodological transparency and research quality.

Authors should provide sufficient documentation to enable appropriate scholarly scrutiny within the methodological tradition of their study.

10.2 Reporting Software and Analytical Tools

Where software or computational tools materially affect the research process, authors should identify the relevant tools and analytical procedures.

Substantive use of artificial intelligence must also comply with the journal's AI Use Policy.

11. Data Citation, Ownership, and Licensing

Research datasets are scholarly outputs that should be appropriately acknowledged when used.

Authors must cite relevant third-party datasets, institutional records, and other sources of research evidence.

11.1 Data Citation

Where a dataset has a persistent identifier, authors should provide an appropriate citation in accordance with APA 7th Edition and the dataset provider's recommended citation information.

A dataset citation should normally identify:

Dataset creator or responsible organization.
Publication or release year.
Dataset title.
Dataset version, where applicable.
Repository or publisher.
Persistent identifier or DOI.

11.2 Data Ownership and Permissions

Authors must ensure that they possess the appropriate rights or authorization to share research materials.

Educational records and institutional datasets may be subject to access agreements, confidentiality obligations, or third-party ownership restrictions.

11.3 Data Licensing

Authors should clearly identify applicable data licenses or reuse conditions when depositing materials in a repository.

The journal's CC BY-SA 4.0 article publication license does not automatically establish the same license for all underlying datasets or third-party research materials.

Data sharing and reuse must respect the applicable license, consent, copyright, and institutional requirements.

12. Data Storage, Security, and Retention

Authors are responsible for maintaining appropriate safeguards for research data throughout the research and publication process.

Research data should be stored using suitable technical and organizational measures to prevent unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or loss.

12.1 Secure Storage

Appropriate safeguards may include:

Authorized access controls.
Secure institutional storage.
Password protection and encryption are used where appropriate.
Separation of identifying information from analytical datasets.
Secure transfer of sensitive materials.
Appropriate backup and recovery arrangements.

12.2 Data Retention

Authors should retain relevant research records for the period required by applicable institutional policies, funding agreements, ethical approvals, and legal requirements.

JIEEd does not impose a universal retention period that overrides these obligations.

Authors should avoid prematurely destroying relevant records when legitimate research-integrity questions remain unresolved.

12.3 Disposal of Research Data

Data should be securely deleted, anonymized, or otherwise disposed of when required by applicable retention schedules, participant consent, institutional procedures, or legal obligations.

Sensitive research data should not be retained indefinitely without appropriate justification.

13. Editorial Verification and Requests for Research Data

JIEEd may request relevant research documentation when necessary to assess the scientific integrity, methodological transparency, or reliability of a submitted or published manuscript.

Such requests may arise during editorial screening, peer review, or the investigation of credible research-integrity concerns.

13.1 Scope of Editorial Requests

Editors may request, where appropriate:

Supporting datasets.
Relevant analytical code.
Research instruments or protocols.
Documentation of reported analyses.
Clarification of data-processing procedures.
Evidence supporting disputed findings.
Explanations of data-access restrictions.

Requests must be proportionate to the scientific or ethical concern.

13.2 Restricted and Sensitive Data

Editors must not require authors to breach participant consent, privacy protections, legal obligations, or institutional confidentiality agreements.

Where direct access is inappropriate, authors may provide suitably protected summaries, verification reports, or other authorized supporting information.

13.3 Peer Reviewer Access

Reviewers may request relevant clarification or supporting information through the handling editor when necessary for scientific evaluation.

Such requests are subject to editorial authorization, confidentiality requirements, and applicable data-access restrictions.

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts or research materials to generative AI systems or use AI to perform manuscript evaluation.

13.4 Failure to Provide Supporting Evidence

When essential research evidence cannot be reasonably verified, the editor may request clarification, additional documentation, or further methodological assessment.

Unexplained inconsistencies or an inability to substantiate material findings may affect an editorial decision.

However, a legitimate ethical restriction on public data sharing must not, by itself, be treated as research misconduct.

14. Artificial Intelligence and Research Data

The use of AI in collecting, processing, analyzing, or interpreting research data must comply with the JIEEd AI Use Policy.

14.1 Transparency of AI-Assisted Analysis

Authors must disclose substantive AI assistance in research methodology or data analysis.

Where relevant, the Methods section should explain:

The AI tool and its purpose.
The research activity is supported by the tool.
Relevant analytical procedures.
The extent of human supervision.
Validation or verification of AI-assisted outputs.

14.2 Research Data Integrity

Authors must not use AI to generate fabricated observations, fictitious research participants, invented student responses, or misleading analytical findings.

Simulated or synthetic data may be used only when methodologically justified and clearly identified as simulated or synthetic, never misrepresented as observations from real participants.

14.3 Confidentiality and AI Platforms

Identifiable or confidential research data must not be uploaded to unauthorized AI platforms.

Authors must evaluate relevant privacy, consent, and institutional requirements before using AI services to process participant information.

Peer reviewers remain subject to the journal's prohibition on AI-assisted manuscript evaluation and uploading confidential review materials.

15. Data Integrity Concerns and Post-Publication Actions

Concerns regarding research data may arise before or after publication.

These may include:

Fabricated or falsified data.
Misleading data manipulation.
Inconsistencies between reported and supporting evidence.
Inaccurate analytical procedures.
Undisclosed data restrictions.
Unauthorized disclosure of confidential participant data.
Misrepresentation of dataset availability or provenance.

15.1 Editorial Assessment

JIEEd evaluates credible concerns through fair, confidential, evidence-based procedures.

Authors may be requested to provide clarification or supporting documentation.

Where appropriate, the journal may consult independent experts or relevant institutions.

15.2 Appropriate Editorial Actions

Depending on the circumstances, possible actions include:

Requesting clarification or additional evidence.
Correcting data descriptions or availability statements.
Requiring methodological revision.
Rejecting a manuscript when essential scientific standards are not met.
Publishing a correction.
Issuing an expression of concern.
Retracting an article when the principal findings are seriously unreliable.

An allegation or a missing dataset alone does not automatically establish misconduct.

JIEEd follows its Research Misconduct Policy and Corrections and Retractions Policy when handling substantial integrity concerns.

16. Responsibilities and Policy Implementation

16.1 Authors

Authors are responsible for accurate data reporting, ethical data management, appropriate documentation, and truthful Data Availability Statements.

They must protect participant confidentiality, respect data ownership, and cooperate with legitimate editorial inquiries.

16.2 Editors

Editors are responsible for evaluating data-transparency requirements consistently and considering ethical restrictions when requesting supporting evidence.

Editorial decisions must be based on scientific quality, research integrity, and applicable ethical standards.

16.3 Peer Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to assess the adequacy of methodological and data reporting within their expertise.

They must respect confidentiality and comply with restrictions on the use of AI and unpublished research materials.

16.4 Publisher

The publisher supports the implementation of this policy and the journal's commitment to research integrity, data protection, and transparent scholarly publishing.

16.5 Policy Review

JIEEd periodically reviews its research data requirements in response to developments in open science, educational research ethics, data-management practices, and applicable regulations.

Substantive updates will be communicated through the journal's official website.

Related Journal Policies

Guidance and References

This policy is informed by the following principles and resources:

Research Data Policy