Research data are data obtained through various methods that may accompany the content of published scholarly articles and thus serve to identify and verify hypotheses or to derive conclusions developed or processed for the purposes of the article. They may exist in various formats, such as interviews, surveys, numerical datasets, computer simulations. If the data are not in digital form, it is advisable to assess whether such materials can be digitized in order to facilitate their preservation in a data repository. A data repository enables the storage of and access to different types of data. Data accessibility increases the transparency and verifiability of research findings and enhances the potential for their reuse in future research, thereby improving the efficiency of public funding already invested in data collection.
In accordance with the Regulation on the Implementation of Research Activities, the journal’s co-financer (the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency) requires the journal’s editorial board to ensure that authors provide open access to the research data used in the preparation of an article prior to its publication. The data must be prepared in accordance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). There are cases in which data cannot be shared fully openly for legal, ethical, or other justified reasons – for example, when personal data requiring protection are involved (see the EU General Data Protection Regulation), when the material includes trade secrets, or when the data pose security risks.
Wherever possible, authors are required to publish their research data in trusted data repositories (in Slovenia or abroad) that provide appropriate access regimes. The trusted repositories recommended by the journal’s co-financer are published here. When publishing research data, the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license is to be used.
Authors must properly cite all data sources used, in accordance with the repository’s guidelines and the citation style applicable to the journal Šolska kronika. If this is not possible, authors must inform the editor that the data have not been digitized or are inaccessible due to justified restrictions. During the submission process, authors will be required to ensure that research data are accessible at least to the editors and reviewers. Upon publication of the article, the final version of the research data must be deposited in an appropriate data repository. It is the responsibility of the editor-in-chief to assess whether an article is based on research data (either the author’s own or third-party data). If the editor determines that such data exist and have not been properly cited by the author, the editor is obliged to request that the author revise and supplement the article accordingly. The same responsibility applies to reviewers.
Given the thematic orientation of the journal Šolska kronika (historiographical topics and methods), it is expected that, in the majority of cases, the publication of articles will not involve the generation of new or accompanying research data.