‘Data not shown’ is an outdated caveat that obscures the transparency of a scientific report and weakens the peer review process, according to Nature Chemical Biology (4, 575; 2008).

“Technology and competition perpetually raise the bar for the quality and quantity of experimental data that authors must include to publish a high-impact manuscript. Almost uniformly, journals have amended their formats to accommodate the increased volume of data while maintaining page restrictions by providing the supplementary information option online for authors and readers. Despite these changes, many authors still rely on the caveat of ‘data not shown’. At Nature Chemical Biology, we discourage the use of this phrase and the omission of important data for two major reasons. First, the exclusion of essential data undermines the peer review process, and second, readers need access to data to form independent opinions about and to replicate the results of published papers. Thus, we suggest that the time for ‘data not shown’ has passed.”

Read the rest of this Editorial here.

For additional details on presenting and consolidating methods, see the journal’s Guide to Authors.

See the NPG authors’ and referees’ website for more details on our data sharing and database deposition policies.