Joint statement: Sharing research data and findings relevant to the novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak

“The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China (2019-nCoV) represents a significant and urgent threat to global health. We call on researchers, journals and funders to ensure that research findings and data relevant to this outbreak are shared rapidly and openly to inform the public health response and help save lives.”

“We affirm the commitment to the principles set out in the 2016 Statement on data sharing in public health emergencies, and will seek to ensure that the World Health Organization has rapid access to emerging findings that could aid the global response.

Specifically, we commit to work together to help ensure:

  • all peer-reviewed research publications relevant to the outbreak are made immediately open access, or freely available at least for the duration of the outbreak
  • research findings relevant to the outbreak are shared immediately with the WHO upon journal submission, by the journal and with author knowledge
  • research findings are made available via preprint servers before journal publication, or via platforms that make papers openly accessible before peer review, with clear statements regarding the availability of underlying data
  • researchers share interim and final research data relating to the outbreak, together with protocols and standards used to collect the data, as rapidly and widely as possible – including with public health and research communities and the WHO
  • authors are clear that data or preprints shared ahead of submission will not pre-empt its publication in these journals

We intend to apply the principles of this statement to similar outbreaks in the future where there is a significant public health benefit to ensuring data is shared widely and rapidly.

We urge others to make the same commitments. If your organisation is committed to supporting these principles, please contact the Wellcome Trust (d.carr@wellcome.ac.uk) and your organisation will be added to the list of signatories.

Signatories (alphabetical order)

  1. Academy of Medical Sciences, UK
  2. African Academy of Sciences
  3. Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response / Biodefense Advanced Research and Development Authority, USA
  4. Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
  5. Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)
  6. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  7. BioRxiv
  8. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), UK
  9. Bulletin of the World Health Organization
  10. The British Medical Journal (BMJ)
  11. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation – Gulbenkian Science Institute
  12. Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  13. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), USA
  14. Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
  15. The Department for International Development (DFID)
  16. DG Research & Innovation, European Commission
  17. Dutch Research Council (NWO)
  18. eLife
  19. EcoHealth Alliance
  20. EMBO
  21. Epicentre – MSF
  22. European Respiratory Journal
  23. ERJ Open Research
  24. F1000 Research Limited
  25. Fondation Merieux
  26. Food & Drug Administration, USA
  27. French National Research Agency (ANR)
  28. The Global Health Network
  29. Global Virus Network
  30. GLOPID-R
  31. Inserm (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale), France
  32. The Institut Pasteur
  33. International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC)
  34. International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID)
  35. Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)
  36. Johnson & Johnson
  37. The Lancet
  38. Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR)
  39. Medical Research Council (UK)
  40. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
  41. MedRxiv
  42. Merck Research Laboratories
  43. Microbide Limited
  44. National Academy of Medicine, USA
  45. National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA
  46. National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italy
  47. New England Journal of Medicine
  48. Office of Global Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services, USA
  49. Portland Press
  50. PLOS
  51. The Research Council of Norway
  52. The Royal Society
  53. Science Europe
  54. Science Foundation Ireland
  55. ScienceOpen
  56. South African Medical Research Council
  57. Takeda
  58. Taylor & Francis
  59. ZonMW – The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development
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