How to request access for Journal Reviewers

Data contributors can submit a request to the EL DMCC to let journal reviewers anonymously access dataset(s) as part of a journal’s peer review process.

The steps for requesting journal reviewer access are outlined below.

1. Message the EL DMCC through your AD + EL Service Desk ticket

Use the Service Desk ticket you opened in Step 1.1: How to Submit a Service Desk Request to contact our team about requesting access for Journal Reviewers. In your message, please include the following information:

A statement saying that you want to request access to your data for Journal Reviewers
Journal name
Editor name and email
Researcher name and email (the primary researcher who is submitting the manuscript)
Manuscript name
Links to Synapse entities (synIDs) required for manuscript review
Do reviewer accounts need access to the full project or just to a specific folder?
Do reviewer accounts require view or download access?
Number of reviewer accounts required for the review?

2. Acknowledge the anonymous manuscript review process

The Sage Bionetworks Governance team will contact you to provide an overview of the process. You will need to reply to confirm that you agree with the process as outlined.

Anonymous Manuscript Review Process (Example preview)

Dear <Author(s)>

I am reaching out to you on behalf of Sage Bionetworks about granting access to data in Synapse for the anonymous review of your manuscript titled <“Title”> submitted to <Name of Journal>.

In order to facilitate the review, I will be sending instructions and anonymous account credentials to the editor, <Editor’s Name>, who will forward them to the designated reviewers. The reviewers will login to Synapse using the anonymous credentials and be prompted to accept the anonymous reviewers data access terms before being granted access to the data in Synapse (see terms below).

By default, access is removed 6 months after the anonymous accounts are issued, so please give us a heads up if you will need to extend account access. If the review is completed before 6 months, please let us know, so that I can revoke anonymous account access.

Please respond to this email to let me know whether you approve of releasing your manuscript data to anonymous reviewers via this process.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Best,

<Name>

Member of the Access and Compliance Team (ACT)

Sage Bionetworks

*Anonymous Reviewers- data access terms:

Before conducting the manuscript review, please agree to the following terms and conditions for anonymous data access:

You agree to only access and use the data necessary for the purpose of reviewing the submitted manuscript, and to delete any data downloaded immediately after submitting your review if applicable.
You agree to abide by the Synapse Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
You confirm that you will not attempt to re-identify research participants for any reason, including for re-identification theory research.
You will not reset your account username or password. If you have issues logging into the account, please inform the Journal Editor.
You agree to report any misuse or data release, intentional or inadvertent, to the Journal Editor within 2 business days of initial knowledge.

3. Account provisioning and close-out

The Sage Governance team will set up the review accounts and communicate account login information and instructions to the reviewers. Once the reviewers have completed their review, their account access will be revoked. By default, reviewers will lose access to their accounts after 6 months.