- Historically, scientific data was often hidden or only accessible to paying subscribers of journals. This began to change in the 1950s with the science citation index and in the early 2000s with declarations supporting open access to data. - When developing data policies, it is important to consider questions of data ownership, access, use restrictions, revision timelines, and how the data may be used. Effective policies clarify these aspects and can encourage data sharing by outlining benefits like requiring data originators be co-authors on publications using the data.