Open Science Badges Policy

Fracture and Structural Integrity promotes transparency and reproducibility in structural integrity research. Authors are encouraged to apply for the Open Materials and/or Open Data Badges to certify that the components of their research are publicly accessible.

Eligibility Criteria for the "Open Materials" and/or "Open Data" Badges
To qualify for the badge, authors must meet the following requirements:

Permanent Repository: Materials (data, scripts, protocols, or specimens) must be deposited in a trusted, non-commercial repository (e.g., ESIS - Preprint Service (ESIS_PS), Zenodo, Figshare, OSF, Dryad, or Mendeley Data). Links to personal or institutional websites are not eligible.

Persistent Identifier: The repository must provide a DOI or a persistent URL.

Sufficient Documentation: The materials must include enough metadata or a "ReadMe" file to allow an independent researcher to understand or replicate the study.

Open License: Materials should be shared under an open license (e.g., CC0 or CC-BY).

Application Process
Submission: During the submission process, authors must state their intention to apply for the badge in the "Comments for the Editor" or via the dedicated metadata field.

Disclosure: Authors must provide the specific URL/DOI to the materials using the dedicated form (LINK).

Verification: The Editorial Board or the reviewers will verify that the link is functional and the content is relevant to the paper.

Awarding: Upon acceptance of the article, the Open Materials / Open Data Badges will be displayed on the article's landing page (OJS) and within the final PDF version.

Note on Maintenance
The journal reserves the right to remove the badge if the materials become inaccessible or are moved to a private/restricted location.