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Publication of results policy

1: Purpose

This policy outlines the requirement for all publications resulting from research conducted within the OpenSAFELY Service to be formally reviewed prior to publication or dissemination. It contains the following sections for reference:

  • Purpose
  • Scope
  • Policy requirements 

2: Scope

Approval must be sought for any publication or wider sharing of results, paper, presentations (e.g. submitting to a journal or a pre-print server, or uploading to any public facing website). If you make changes to your artefact (e.g. manuscript, slides presentation) once it has been approved then the new version must be resubmitted for publication approval. 

Results can be shared, in confidence, with key members of the wider research team and academic collaborators, once they have been output-checked and released and prior to final publication.

N.B. The Clinical Datapast Function, which forms a core part of the publication approval process, is currently being updated: this policy reflects the interim process, where Bennett Institute staff will conduct reviews, the intention is that the GP profession will take this over in due course.

3: Policy requirements 

3.1: Artefact review process

All artefacts must be formally reviewed, prior to publication or dissemination. These reviews are currently conducted by the Bennett Institute and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Artefact(s) submitted for review must be at least 90% complete, but the results and conclusion must be final. The process for submitting artefacts for review is described on the OpenSAFELY website.

Artefacts should follow the Contributorship and Content Guidance, to ensure that the OpenSAFELY Service, funders, and data custodians are recognised and accurately described. 

Artefacts will be independently reviewed by two members of the Bennett Institute, who will provide feedback for consideration by the Project Lead, which may include suggested amendments or identify where the artefact may benefit from further clarification. 

The project lead must respond to this feedback, and submit updated artefacts to the Bennett Institute. They may decline to make any suggested changes, but must confirm that they have received the feedback and consider the artefacts to be “final”.

The artefact(s) will then be submitted to DHSC for formal approval to publish/disseminate.

3.2 Interim sharing of results

Results can be shared within a research team, and with academic collaborators, prior to completion of the artefact review process, provided they have been output-checked and released. Academic collaborators do not need to be registered users of the service (either OpenSAFELY Full Users or OpenSAFELY Collaborators).

Version: 3.1
Last updated: 19 March 2026