Open Science Policy

Revista Latina de Comunicación Social adheres to the principles of Open Science, promoting a publishing model that encourages transparency, collaboration, and the reuse of knowledge. In this regard, the journal:

  • Publishes all its content in open access under Creative Commons licenses that ensure free access and non-commercial reuse.

  • Encourages authors to deposit the research data underlying their articles in institutional or thematic open access repositories, preferably integrated in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), in accordance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), as promoted by the international initiative GO FAIR.

  • Assigns persistent identifiers (DOIs) to all its articles and supports linking to supplementary materials through interoperable identifiers.

  • Participates in digital preservation systems and metadata sharing services that enable the harvesting and dissemination of content through repositories and aggregators.

This commitment to Open Science strengthens the quality, transparency, and impact of the knowledge generated in the field of communication studies.

Best practices for research data deposit

Data deposit should not be viewed as a one-time task at the end of a research project, but as an integral process that begins with the study design and continues throughout the research lifecycle. To ensure a proper and ethical deposit of data, the following practices are recommended:

  • Data selection and preparation: Raw data should be reviewed, cleaned, and processed to produce a coherent final dataset. A master copy of the definitive dataset should be created to ensure long-term integrity and authenticity.

  • Access level determination: Not all data should necessarily be made publicly available. It is essential to assess whether there are legal or ethical constraints, such as copyright, confidentiality, privacy, or personal data protection.

  • Anonymization of personal data: When dealing with sensitive information, appropriate anonymization must be applied to prevent direct or indirect identification of individuals.

  • Repository selection: When choosing a repository, aspects such as thematic focus, storage capacity, preservation policies, support for persistent identifiers (e.g., DOI), embargo options, and licensing models should be considered.

  • Documentation: Deposited data must be accompanied by clear descriptions (metadata) that facilitate their discovery, understanding, and reuse by other researchers.

  • Linking to publications: If the data support a scientific publication, it is recommended to include a link to the dataset’s DOI within the article to enhance traceability and transparency of results.

Considerations regarding limitations on data sharing

Not all datasets are meant to be shared without restriction. It is important to acknowledge certain limits:

  • Sensitive data: When data include confidential, personal, or legally protected information, compliance with applicable data protection regulations must be ensured. Anonymization is essential to enable access while maintaining ethical standards.

  • Shared or third-party ownership: If the data are not solely owned by the researchers who collected them, or if multiple parties hold rights over them, permission must be obtained from all relevant stakeholders before sharing or reusing the data.

  • Economic or strategic value: Some datasets may carry commercial implications or be protected under intellectual property rights. In such cases, a careful evaluation should determine the appropriate timing and conditions for data sharing, including the possible use of embargo periods prior to public release.