Editorial guidelines for the publication of data papers in Health Sciences

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the editorial guidelines of health science journals that accept data articles and to identify the common points that guide the elaboration of a data article, to assist editors of Brazilian journals. The sample consisted of journals indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases that publish data articles, and the data collection was carried out directly on the websites of the publications, in the link of instructions or guidelines to the authors of the 54 retrieved journals related to the Health Sciences. Of the total titles, 26 journals (48%) indicated some type of guidelines for submission of data articles and four titles presented a template for guidelines. It is concluded that although few journals provide a structured data article template for download, it is clear that journals have made progress in building a consistent description of the main components of data articles. The selection adopted in this research allowed the construction of a clearer view of the implicit standards adopted in data articles in the health sciences.