---
name: data-availability
description: Use when drafting, auditing, or revising Data Availability statements, repository plans, accession-number placement, source-data coverage, or restricted-data wording for journal submission or resubmission.
---
# Data Availability
## Overview
Use this skill to turn manuscript-supporting data into a submission-ready availability package: statement text, repository plan, source-data mapping, and unresolved-risk flags.
This skill is narrower than `submission-audit` and more operational than `scientific-writing`. Use it when the bottleneck is no longer the paper's story, but whether the data-sharing package is specific, durable, and journal-ready.
## When To Use
Use this skill when:
- the manuscript needs a `Data Availability` statement
- accession numbers, DOIs, repository records, or source-data files are missing or unstable
- the paper mixes generated data, reused public data, and restricted data
- "available upon request" wording needs to be tightened or replaced
- a submission or revision needs data-sharing text that editors can audit quickly
Do not use this skill for:
- generic section rewriting unrelated to data sharing
- full manuscript restructuring
- bibliography cleanup that does not affect dataset availability
## Workflow
1. Identify the target journal and article type.
2. Inventory the datasets that support the main and supplementary claims:
- raw data
- processed data
- figure source data
- reused public datasets
- code-adjacent outputs that are necessary to inspect the results
3. Assign each dataset one access route only:
- public repository
- controlled-access repository
- within paper or supplement
- reused public source
- third-party restricted
- justified request route
4. Choose repository and identifier strategy before drafting the statement.
5. Draft explicit dataset-to-location wording.
6. Check that the statement covers both newly generated and reused data.
7. Flag unresolved fields rather than inventing repository names, accession IDs, DOIs, or access rules.
## Working Rules
- Prefer public, discipline-specific repositories when possible.
- Treat `available upon request` as weak unless a real legal, ethical, commercial, or third-party restriction exists.
- If data cannot be public, state:
- why access is restricted
- who controls access
- how requests are reviewed
- what metadata, source data, or derived data remain public
- Do not merge data, code, protocols, and materials into one vague availability sentence unless the journal explicitly wants that.
- Do not invent accession numbers, DOIs, repository names, reviewer links, or embargo terms.
## Related Files
Open these only when needed:
- `references/statement-patterns.md`
Use when drafting or repairing the actual statement text.
- `references/repository-routing.md`
Use when deciding where each dataset should live and what identifier type is needed.
- `references/source-data-checks.md`
Use when checking whether figures, tables, and supplements expose enough underlying data.
## Output Standard
When using this skill, return:
- ready-to-paste `Data Availability` text
- repository and identifier actions still required
- missing information or blocking risks
- a short note on whether the current package is:
- `ready_to_submit`
- `draft_with_placeholders`
- `needs_author_input`
- `blocked`