Do authors of scientific publications have to share data?
If you are funded by NIH or NSF the answer is yes. Additionally, most journals have a statement saying they will not publish a paper if the data is not made available. For instance, the journal Nature requires all data to be shared. However, not all journals have such a stance, the Journal of Neuroinflammation has a data sharing statement that explicitly says "Authors who do not wish to share their data must state that data will not be shared, and give the reason.".
Now check out this paper's data sharing statement (published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation) :
"Cytotoxic T cells modulate inflammation and endogenous opioid analgesia in chronic arthritis" by Uta Baddack-Werncke et. al.
I was aghast. I knew that if both the journal and the funding agency didn't require sharing then the authors were not required to share. But I was still surprised to see such a bold statement.
Robin Dowell, my Co-I, agrees the authors stance is a problem. She also said "At least its more honest then saying data available on request and never responding to requests."
So now you know, scientists don't have to share. But I hope you will. Because I don't think science is helped by selfishness. Besides I don't want to play with your data anyway, Uta. You can go play alone.
Want to find more authors who do not want to share.
Credit to Robin Dowell for pointing me to this paper and twitter feed.