How to add data availability statement in Physical Review Letters?

Question

We have submitted our recent findings to PRL. As the second round of revision came through, we are almost confident that we will get published in PRL.

Now we wanted to provide our algorithm as a matlab GUI so that the readers can reproduce our results in a single click. The idea is to motivate readers from other fields to have a quick feel of what we do.

Most journals like nature have a Data availability where they allow to provide links to available data. Is there a way in PRL to do such thing. We would like to add a link to our webpage which has the software created by us.

For example,

Data availability: Interested readers can reproduce our results by using our algorithm. The software can be found at [URL].

Is such a statement allowed in PRL? If so where does it go, before acknowledgments or after that or in the supplemental?

Answer 1

I don't have experience with PRL, only with an APS journal(Physical Review x, where x=A-E[not all of them, only an undisclosed letter]). First of all, I would like to congratulate you, having a paper in PRL it is really something to be appreciated. For PRL, you can add supplemental material to the paper, which can be downloaded when the user downloads the original paper attached to it. As for the program which is based on a Matlab GUI, you can add a link in the body of the paper. I have seen that some authors also add links in the Acknowledgements section of the paper, where they also state that any data is available on e-mail also upon request. Also, if you used Matlab, please provide all the necessary files and the Matlab version to be used. Please use a public open access repository which will not change it's DNS in time. Moreover, don't forget that you might need to cite also Matlab as a bibtex, it might be a necessity when using this software product (see the copyright files when you installed this software on your computer).

Answer 2

To provide a 2024 update, APS have released a statement that (bold for emphasis):

The American Physical Society has refreshed its data availability policy to reflect a commitment to transparent and ethical research. All articles published in the Physical Review journals will now feature a statement detailing where data required to support or replicate the claims can be accessed. This new policy goes into effect Sept. 4 for articles submitted to Physical Review D and PRX Energy, and will take effect for articles submitted to the remaining journals by the end of the year.

Previously, APS strongly encouraged authors to include data availability statements that detailed where relevant data, code, and other material used in the work could be accessed. Now, authors must select one of several pre-scripted data availability statements. The public sharing of data itself remains encouraged. Authors who do not provide data publicly must offer justification and their data must still be shared privately with referees and editors upon request.

This makes clear that such data availability statements are currently explicitly allowed in PRL (in fact, strongly encouraged), and will be made mandatory for articles to submitted to PRL in 2025.

Note that this does not amount to a requirement of publishing the data. Per the policy,

If any data referred to in an article (including the authors’ original data) is publicly available at the time of publication, the authors will be asked to provide a reference or references giving further details, including a DOI or URL, which will be cited in the statement. Please see the section on data citation for more details.

If the data will not be made publicly available, then authors must:

1. specify the reason why they are unable to make their research data publicly available, which will be included in the published article, and agree to make any data required to support or replicate claims made in their article available privately to the journal’s editors, reviewers, and readers upon reasonable request.
2. The decision to accept an article for publication will not be affected by whether or not authors share their research data publicly, as long as both requirements above are met.

In addition to this policy, authors should follow requirements for sharing data and code set by their funding agencies and institutions.