Recently, the Korean Journal of Pain (KJP) made the difficult decision to retract a published paper due to significant methodological flaws. The problems in the paper included data inconsistencies, incorrect statistical analyses, and a lack of transparency regarding specific methodological details [1]. The decision to retract the article reflects KJP's commitment to upholding the highest standards of scientific integrity. Importantly, the retraction was facilitated by KJP's data-sharing policy, which allows researchers worldwide to access and verify data associated with published studies.

1. Data sharing: a pillar of research transparency

KJP implemented a formal data sharing policy in 2022, in accordance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) standards for research transparency and reproducibility [2,3]. This policy requires authors to deposit their data in publicly accessible repositories or provide the data upon reasonable request. Subsequently, numerous researchers have made their datasets publicly available [4–7]. This availability has substantially increased the credibility and reproducibility of published research. In the case of the recently retracted manuscript [1], access to the dataset allowed an independent researcher to detect irregularities. After being notified of these findings, KJP's editorial board, statistical editor, and research ethics committee carried out a thorough review. This incident is a powerful example of how data sharing strengthens accountability and ensures that published research withstands broad scientific scrutiny.

2. The advantages of data sharing

In addition to promoting transparency, data sharing has numerous benefits for researchers, journals, and the broader scientific community:

- Promoting reproducibility: Sharing data openly enables independent verification of results, either confirming that the findings are robust or identifying potential problems. The ability to determine whether results are reproducible fosters trust in the scientific process.

- Encouraging collaboration: Making datasets available allows researchers throughout the world to collaborate and pursue new research questions based on existing data.

- Maximizing data utility: Data collection requires substantial resources. Data sharing makes it possible for researchers to make the most of existing data, thereby avoiding duplication of effort.

- Supporting education and training: Shared datasets can serve as valuable educational tools for students and early-career researchers by providing them the opportunity to gain practical experience working with real-world data.

- Increasing research visibility and impact: Studies that share their data receive greater visibility and more citations, which helps amplify their reach and impact [8].

- Ensuring data preservation: Archiving data in repositories guarantees long-term accessibility, providing a more stable basis for future researchers to build upon prior work.

3. Challenges and the need for author engagement

Regardless of its advantages, data sharing ultimately depends on the active engagement of authors. Researchers must ensure that their data are accurate, anonymized, and well-documented to enable others to effectively interpret and utilize them. Unfortunately, some researchers are hesitant to share their data due to fears of exposing weaknesses in their research, privacy issues, competitive disadvantage, or the risk of misuse. This reluctance can impede scientific progress and even compromise the integrity of the field. Nonetheless, these concerns can be addressed by establishing clear guidelines, implementing ethical safeguards, and promoting a culture that values openness and collaboration.

A call to action

Ensuring transparency and reproducibility is the responsibility of both journals and researchers. At KJP, we firmly believe that data sharing is vital for advancing knowledge and improving society. We encourage all researchers to contribute to this collective, broadly beneficial effort that promotes trust, collaboration, and innovation.

Although data sharing requires effort and dedication, it has deep and wide-ranging benefits for the scientific community as a whole. KJP remains steadfast in promoting a culture of data transparency and will continue to prioritize initiatives that uphold rigorous research standards.

Data sharing does not apply to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed for this study.

Francis S. Nahm is a current Editor-in-Chief of the Korean Journal of Pain; however, he has not been involved in the peer reviewer selection, evaluation, or decision process of this article. No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

No funding to declare.

Francis Sahngun Nahm: Writing/manuscript preparation.

1. Yildiz G, Perdecioglu GRG, Yuruk D, Can E, Akkaya OT. Retraction: comparison of the efficacy of genicular nerve phenol neurolysis and radiofrequency ablation for pain management in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Korean J Pain : doi: 10.3344/kjp.23220r.
   
2. Nahm FS. Data sharing: a direction for securing research transparency. Korean J Pain 2022; 35: 359-60.
   
3. Taichman DB, Backus J, Baethge C, Bauchner H, de Leeuw PW, Drazen JM, et al. Sharing clinical trial data: a proposal from the international committee of medical journal editors. Ann Intern Med 2016; 164: 505-6.
   
4. Naskar S, Bhoi D, Garg H, Dehran M, Trikha A, Ansari MT. A comparison of analgesic efficacy and safety of clonidine and methylprednisolone as additives to 0.25% ropivacaine in stellate ganglion block for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome: a prospective randomised single blind study. Korean J Pain 2023; 36: 216-29.
   
5. Kim J, Kim JY, Shin HY, Sim SE, Chung S, Jeon Y, et al. Investigation of the existence of and a block technique for the inferior lateral genicular nerve: cadaveric study. Korean J Pain 2023; 36: 328-34.
   
6. Zhai Q, Wang K, Zhang D, Chen J, Dong X, Pan Y. Perampanel ameliorates nitroglycerin-induced migraine through inhibition of the cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling pathway in the trigeminal ganglion in rats. Korean J Pain 2023; 36: 335-46.
   
7. Lin K, Fu D, Wang Z, Zhang X, Zhu C. Analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of galangin: a potential pathway to inhibit transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 receptor activation. Korean J Pain 2024; 37: 151-63.
   
8. Piwowar HA, Vision TJ. Data reuse and the open data citation advantage. PeerJ 2013; 1: e175.