# Enforce individual participant data sharing as a condition of publication and funding

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-data-ipd-deposit-enforcement/  
OnCo record `idea-data-ipd-deposit-enforcement` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Journals and funders already ask trialists to share patient-level data; almost nobody checks. Make it a checked condition with real consequences.

## Summary

ICMJE requires data-sharing statements, and funders such as the NIH require sharing plans, but audits find that a minority of oncology trials actually make individual participant data available. The proposal is a joint enforcement mechanism: deposit to an accredited repository (Vivli, YODA, Project Data Sphere) within 18 months of primary publication, verified by the journal before publication of any secondary paper, and by funders before any new award.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Verified enforcement will raise actual availability of oncology trial participant data from under 20 percent to over 70 percent within five years, enabling pooled analyses and external validations that are currently impossible.
- Rationale: Compliance with trial registration jumped only when ICMJE made it a condition of publication; sharing needs the same enforced condition rather than a statement.
- Proposed test: Two major oncology journals adopt verified deposit for one year; compare actual availability of data from their trials against matched journals without the rule.
- Maturity: speculative
- Actor: policy

## Sources

- Vivli: https://vivli.org/
- Project Data Sphere: https://www.projectdatasphere.org/

## Connected records

- collections: [ClinicalTrials.gov](https://onco.cc/collections/clinicaltrials-gov/)
- fronts: [AI & Computation](https://onco.cc/fronts/ai-computation/)
- bottlenecks: [Data silos](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-data-silos/), [Preclinical results do not reproduce](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-reproducibility/), [Secrecy and intellectual property block collaboration](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-ip-collaboration/)

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