Bank and Policy is committed to promoting transparent, ethical, reproducible, and open scientific research. The Journal follows the principles of the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines – Level I, in line with international best practices adopted by leading publishers, including Elsevier.

All manuscripts presenting empirical or data-based research are subject to transparency screening prior to publication.

1. Citation Standards
All data sets, analytical codes, and research materials used in a manuscript must be appropriately cited in the text and listed in the reference section where applicable.
Authors are encouraged to use persistent identifiers (e.g., DOI) for data and code to ensure long-term accessibility.

2. Data Availability and Transparency
Authors must include a Data Availability Statement indicating:

• whether the data supporting the findings are available;
• where and how the data can be accessed; or
• justified reasons for data restrictions (e.g., confidentiality, legal or ethical constraints).

3. Code (Analytical Methods) Transparency
Where applicable, authors should state whether the analytical code or statistical scripts used in the study are available and indicate the repository or platform where they can be accessed.

4. Research Materials Transparency
Authors must indicate whether the research materials (e.g., questionnaires, survey instruments, experimental protocols) are available and, if so, where they can be accessed.

5. Research Design and Analysis Transparency
Authors are expected to clearly describe the research design, data collection procedures, and analytical methods to allow readers to assess the validity and reliability of the study. Transparency in methodological reporting is strongly encouraged.

6. Preregistration of Studies and Analysis Plans
Authors should indicate whether the study and/or analysis plan was preregistered in an independent registry.
If preregistration was conducted, authors must provide a reference or link. If not, this should be clearly stated without penalty.

7. Replication Research
Bank and Policy encourages the submission of replication studies, particularly those that replicate or extend previously published research in the Journal.

Compliance
Upon submission, authors confirm that their manuscript complies with this policy. Manuscripts that do not include the required transparency statements may be returned for revision prior to peer review.