Open synthesis and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020

J Clin Epidemiol. 2020 Oct:126:184-191. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2020.06.032. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

¹ Stockholm Environment Institute, Linnégatan 87D, Stockholm, Sweden; African Centre for Evidence, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; The SEI Centre of the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence, Stockholm, Sweden; Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: neal_haddaway@hotmail.com.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HE&I), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; The Global Evidence Synthesis Initiative (GESI) Secretariat, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada; Campbell Collaboration, Oslo, Norway; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa.
⁵ Campbell UK and Ireland, Belfast, UK; Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
⁶ Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HE&I), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; The Global Evidence Synthesis Initiative (GESI) Secretariat, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.

Abstract

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Open Science principles are vital for ensuring reproducibility, trust, and legacy.
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Evidence synthesis is a vital means of summarizing research for decision-making.
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Open Synthesis is the application of Open Science principles to evidence synthesis.
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Open approaches to planning, conducting, and reporting synthesis have many benefits.
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We call on the evidence synthesis community to embrace Open Synthesis.

Keywords: Collaborative research; Evidence ecosystem; Repeatability; Research waste; Traceability; Transparency.