IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i2p1473-d1034751.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reproducibility and Scientific Integrity of Big Data Research in Urban Public Health and Digital Epidemiology: A Call to Action

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Cecilia Quiroga Gutierrez

    (Department of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Lucerne, 6002 Luzern, Switzerland
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Daniel J. Lindegger

    (Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Ala Taji Heravi

    (CLEAR Methods Center, Department of Clinical Research, Division of Clinical Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland)

  • Thomas Stojanov

    (Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, University Hospital of Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland)

  • Martin Sykora

    (School of Business and Economics, Centre for Information Management, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK)

  • Suzanne Elayan

    (School of Business and Economics, Centre for Information Management, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK)

  • Stephen J. Mooney

    (Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA)

  • John A. Naslund

    (Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Marta Fadda

    (Institute of Public Health, Università Della Svizzera Italiana, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland)

  • Oliver Gruebner

    (Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
    Department of Geography, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland)

Abstract

The emergence of big data science presents a unique opportunity to improve public-health research practices. Because working with big data is inherently complex, big data research must be clear and transparent to avoid reproducibility issues and positively impact population health. Timely implementation of solution-focused approaches is critical as new data sources and methods take root in public-health research, including urban public health and digital epidemiology. This commentary highlights methodological and analytic approaches that can reduce research waste and improve the reproducibility and replicability of big data research in public health. The recommendations described in this commentary, including a focus on practices, publication norms, and education, are neither exhaustive nor unique to big data, but, nonetheless, implementing them can broadly improve public-health research. Clearly defined and openly shared guidelines will not only improve the quality of current research practices but also initiate change at multiple levels: the individual level, the institutional level, and the international level.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Cecilia Quiroga Gutierrez & Daniel J. Lindegger & Ala Taji Heravi & Thomas Stojanov & Martin Sykora & Suzanne Elayan & Stephen J. Mooney & John A. Naslund & Marta Fadda & Oliver Gruebner, 2023. "Reproducibility and Scientific Integrity of Big Data Research in Urban Public Health and Digital Epidemiology: A Call to Action," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1473-:d:1034751
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1473/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1473/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Björn Schwander & Mark Nuijten & Silvia Evers & Mickaël Hiligsmann, 2021. "Replication of Published Health Economic Obesity Models: Assessment of Facilitators, Hurdles and Reproduction Success," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 433-446, April.
    2. Hendrik P. van Dalen & Kène Henkens, 2012. "Intended and unintended consequences of a publish‐or‐perish culture: A worldwide survey," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(7), pages 1282-1293, July.
    3. Panagiota Galetsi & Korina Katsaliaki, 2020. "A review of the literature on big data analytics in healthcare," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 71(10), pages 1511-1529, October.
    4. David Moher & Lex Bouter & Sabine Kleinert & Paul Glasziou & Mai Har Sham & Virginia Barbour & Anne-Marie Coriat & Nicole Foeger & Ulrich Dirnagl, 2020. "The Hong Kong Principles for assessing researchers: Fostering research integrity," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(7), pages 1-14, July.
    5. Jonathan Hersh & Matthew Harding, 2018. "Big Data in economics," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 451-451, September.
    6. Martin Fadler & Christine Legner, 2022. "Data ownership revisited: clarifying data accountabilities in times of big data and analytics," Journal of Business Analytics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 123-139, January.
    7. C. Glenn Begley & Lee M. Ellis, 2012. "Raise standards for preclinical cancer research," Nature, Nature, vol. 483(7391), pages 531-533, March.
    8. Pivar, Jasmina, 2020. "Conceptual Model of Big Data Technologies Adoption in Smart Cities of the European Union," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2020), Virtual Conference, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Virtual Conference, 10-12 September 2020, pages 572-585, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
    9. Deepa Mishra & Angappa Gunasekaran & Thanos Papadopoulos & Stephen J. Childe, 2018. "Big Data and supply chain management: a review and bibliometric analysis," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 270(1), pages 313-336, November.
    10. Schusselé Filliettaz, Séverine & Berchtold, Peter & Kohler, Dimitri & Peytremann-Bridevaux, Isabelle, 2018. "Integrated care in Switzerland: Results from the first nationwide survey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(6), pages 568-576.
    11. Hensel, Przemysław G., 2021. "Reproducibility and replicability crisis: How management compares to psychology and economics – A systematic review of literature," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 577-594.
    12. Monya Baker, 2016. "1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility," Nature, Nature, vol. 533(7604), pages 452-454, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joel Oommen George & Suzanne Elayan & Martin Sykora & Marin Solter & Rob Feick & Christopher Hewitt & Yiqiao Liu & Ketan Shankardass, 2023. "The Role of Social Media in Building Pandemic Resilience in an Urban Community: A Qualitative Case Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(17), pages 1-18, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shinichi Nakagawa & Edward R. Ivimey-Cook & Matthew J. Grainger & Rose E. O’Dea & Samantha Burke & Szymon M. Drobniak & Elliot Gould & Erin L. Macartney & April Robin Martinig & Kyle Morrison & Matthi, 2023. "Method Reporting with Initials for Transparency (MeRIT) promotes more granularity and accountability for author contributions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-5, December.
    2. Erin C McKiernan, 2017. "Imagining the “open” university: Sharing scholarship to improve research and education," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-25, October.
    3. Jinzhou Li & Marloes H. Maathuis, 2021. "GGM knockoff filter: False discovery rate control for Gaussian graphical models," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 83(3), pages 534-558, July.
    4. Peter Harremoës, 2019. "Replication Papers," Publications, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-8, July.
    5. Mark D Lindner & Richard K Nakamura, 2015. "Examining the Predictive Validity of NIH Peer Review Scores," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-12, June.
    6. Joseph Klein, 2022. "Improving the reproducibility of findings by updating research methodology," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1597-1609, June.
    7. Becker, Albrecht & Lukka, Kari, 2023. "Instrumentalism and the publish-or-perish regime," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    8. Hussinger, Katrin & Pellens, Maikel, 2019. "Guilt by association: How scientific misconduct harms prior collaborators," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 516-530.
    9. Tuba Bircan & Almila Alkim Akdag Salah, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis of the Use of Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Social Sciences," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(23), pages 1-17, November.
    10. Qin, Fei & Wu, Steven Y., 2022. "Estimating Consumer Segments and Choices from Limited Information: The Application of Machine Learning Methods," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322473, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Jasper Brinkerink, 2023. "When Shooting for the Stars Becomes Aiming for Asterisks: P-Hacking in Family Business Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 304-343, March.
    12. Dell'Anno, Roberto & Caferra, Rocco & Morone, Andrea, 2020. "A “Trojan Horse” in the peer-review process of fee-charging economic journals," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3).
    13. Shibayama, Sotaro, 2019. "Sustainable development of science and scientists: Academic training in life science labs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 676-692.
    14. Colin F. Camerer & Anna Dreber & Felix Holzmeister & Teck-Hua Ho & Jürgen Huber & Magnus Johannesson & Michael Kirchler & Gideon Nave & Brian A. Nosek & Thomas Pfeiffer & Adam Altmejd & Nick Buttrick , 2018. "Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(9), pages 637-644, September.
    15. Isidore Komla Zotoo & Guifeng Liu & Zhangping Lu & Frank Kofi Essien & Wencheng Su, 2023. "The Impact of Key Stakeholders and the Computer Skills of Librarians on Research Data Management Support Services (Id so-21-1893.r2)," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, September.
    16. Nathalie Percie du Sert & Viki Hurst & Amrita Ahluwalia & Sabina Alam & Marc T Avey & Monya Baker & William J Browne & Alejandra Clark & Innes C Cuthill & Ulrich Dirnagl & Michael Emerson & Paul Garne, 2020. "The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(7), pages 1-12, July.
    17. Hendrik P. van Dalen, 2019. "Values of Economists Matter in the Art and Science of Economics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 472-499, August.
    18. Abramo, Giovanni & D'Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Grilli, Leonardo, 2021. "The effects of citation-based research evaluation schemes on self-citation behavior," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4).
    19. Fernando Hoces de la Guardia & Sean Grant & Edward Miguel, 2021. "A framework for open policy analysis," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(2), pages 154-163.
    20. Antonella Lanati & Marinella Marzano & Caterina Manzari & Bruno Fosso & Graziano Pesole & Francesca De Leo, 2019. "Management at the service of research: ReOmicS, a quality management system for omics sciences," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-13, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1473-:d:1034751. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.