Systematic Review
MeSH ID: D000078182
Description:
A review of primary literature in health and health policy that attempts to identify, appraise, and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets specified eligibility criteria to answer a given research question. Its conduct uses explicit methods aimed at minimizing bias in order to produce more reliable findings regarding the effects of interventions for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation that can be used to inform decision making.
Best practice for sharing this type of data:
Data extraction forms with all data points, along with supporting documentation and script from statistical analysis (if meta-analysis is included) should be made available. Most systematic review management systems (e.g., Covidence, Distiller SR) export data extraction information as a .csv file. If data extraction forms were created outside a management system (e.g., in Word, Excel), provide these as a .txt, PDF/A, or .csv file. Documentation describing each field in the data extraction form should be made available as a .txt or PDF/A file. Preferred file formats for statistical script are .txt or PDF/A.
Most suitable repositories:
Many repositories are suitable for systematic review data. The Systematic Review Data Repository provides a repository for data specific to this study type. As well, your institution, journal, or funder may recommend specific repositories, otherwise data can be added to any repository able to host generic file types, detailed here.
Best practice for indicating re-use of existing data:
For public datasets please provide a DOI or other stable identified for the dataset itself *and* include a citation for the dataset in the reference list. Be sure to indicate exactly which data has been re-used, particularly when multiple versions of the dataset exist. In many cases, this is best achieved by sharing the code used to extract the part of the data that you analyzed. In some cases it may be best to share the exact dataset(s) you analyzed as well.
For access-controlled data authors should provide a link to instructions for obtaining access (e.g. here is the information page for ADNI (Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative): http://adni.loni.usc.edu/data-samples/access-data/).
When re-using a private dataset from a previous study please contact the data owners to discuss how the data can be made public.
