Data Availability and Reproducibility Policy

Lex Aeterna Law Journal encourages openness of research materials so far as this is possible without breaching confidentiality, ethical approval, personal data protection, or third-party intellectual property rights.

Data Availability Statement

Every article must carry a Data Availability Statement at the end of the manuscript, before the reference list. It states what materials underlie the findings, where they can be obtained, and on what conditions. The statement is required even where the answer is that all materials are already contained in the article.

Research Materials in Legal Scholarship

  • Primary legal materials — legislation, court decisions, treaties, and official documents. These are generally public; authors need only cite them fully enough to be found, for example a complete decision number or State Gazette number.
  • Secondary legal materials — journal articles, books, and reports, cited in the reference list with DOIs where available.
  • Empirical data — interview transcripts, field notes, questionnaires, coding sheets, and case databases compiled by the author. These are the materials readers can least often verify, and therefore the ones most in need of a clear statement.

Four Permitted Forms of Statement

  1. All materials are in the article. “All legal materials underlying this study are set out in the article and its reference list. No additional data were generated.”
  2. Available on request. “The coding sheet and the case database compiled by the author are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.”
  3. Deposited in a repository. “Data supporting this study are available at [repository] under [DOI or persistent link].”
  4. Restricted, with reasons. “Interview transcripts cannot be made public because they contain personal data and information obtained in confidence. An anonymised summary is available on reasonable request.”

Limits That May Not Be Crossed

  • Advocate–client confidentiality. Information obtained by an author acting as counsel may not be disclosed without the client’s written consent.
  • Personal data protection. Disclosure is subject to Law Number 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection. Data permitting identification of an individual must be anonymised before sharing.
  • Pending proceedings. Materials whose disclosure could affect proceedings that are not yet final may be withheld until the case concludes.
  • Ethical approval. Participant consent determines how far materials may be shared; they may not be released beyond the consent given.
  • Third-party intellectual property. Documents whose copyright is held by others may not be re-uploaded.

Verifiability of Legal Sources

Regardless of data availability, every citation to legislation and case law must be complete enough for a reader to locate it. Decision numbers must be given in full, for example Constitutional Court Decision Number 144/PUU-XXI/2023. Reviewers check at least five citations at random in every manuscript. Citations that cannot be located cause the manuscript to be returned; sources shown to be fabricated cause rejection.

Reproducibility

For research applying quantitative analysis to decisions or legislation, authors describe the sampling method, time span, databases used, and coding rules in enough detail for another researcher to repeat the search. Coding sheets are attached as an appendix or made available on request.

Commencement

This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted from October 2026. Manuscripts without a Data Availability Statement are returned at the editorial desk check.