Barriers to sharing qualitative interview data and suggestions to overcome them: a scoping review

Abstract

Universities, journals and funding bodies increasingly encourage qualitative data sharing, yet practical guidance for making interview and focus group transcripts accessible remains difficult to locate. This scoping review maps actionable strategies to overcome barriers to sharing qualitative data. The review included all sources of evidence, enabling capture of suggestions made by qualitative scholars themselves, as well as those from journals and repositories. A comprehensive search of peer-reviewed and grey literature identified 110 sources. Extracted suggestions were categorized into seven interrelated themes: confidentiality, consent, data misuse, context, external approvals, researcher distress, and time and financial constraints. These findings are consolidated into a table-based tool to guide researchers toward the most practical resources for each barrier. The review highlights the diversity and complexity of qualitative data sharing, the absence of systematic evaluation of strategies and the importance of avoiding one-size-fits-all data sharing expectations. By providing a structured, accessible resource, this work aims to support researchers in ethically, effectively and confidently sharing qualitative data, while informing funders and institutions developing open data policies.