Guidelines - NFDI4Health

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Guidelines

Clear standards and best practices

NFDI4Health sets binding standards in its guidelines and shares best practices for health research. This is particularly important because it ensures the quality and comparability of research data, thereby guaranteeing reliable results for medical practice. All documents are available for download free of charge. Currently available are a publication guideline, a training handbook, a white paper on Record Linkage, and templates for data management plans.

Publication policy

A first important step in the FAIRification of data from health-related studies is the publication of comprehensive information on the context and accessibility of the data and metadata. The first step towards this is the publication of comprehensive information about the context and accessibility of the data and metadata. In addition, study documents contain further detailed information needed for the correct interpretation of the collected data and should therefore be published as well. The NFDI4Health publication policy describes the requirements for the publication of research data from health-related studies in detail.

Publication policy

Training Handbook

Data literacy is crucial for everyone involved in health research in order to understand the complexity and limitations of research data and make informed decisions. NFDI4Health contributes to systematically imparting these skills with a comprehensive training handbook on research data management. The handbook offers practical training concepts and materials that can be used by trainers and multipliers. It covers both basic awareness-raising and specific training, such as how to use the Health Study Hub.

Training Handbook

White Paper: Record Linkage

In Germany, it is currently difficult to link health data from different sources. This impairs the quality of healthcare - especially in comparison with other European countries. To counter this, NFDI4Health has developed a white paper on record linkage with other experts, including, among others, the Medical Informatics Initiative and the University Medicine Network. The white paper describes the obstacles to the effective use of health data and points to practical and low-bureaucracy solutions that are in line with the European General Data Protection Regulation. It takes an interdisciplinary approach to guide and support scientists for their record linkage projects and gives 4 central recommendations to the legislator.

Data Management Plan

A research data management plan systematically describes how data is organized, stored, secured, and, if necessary, shared within the framework of a research project. These plans help to ensure transparency, traceability, and reusability of data—important prerequisites for scientific integrity and quality. To support researchers in creating such plans, NFDI4Health has developed three specific templates. These are tailored to different study designs: one template for epidemiological studies, one for clinical studies, and a shorter, more general version based on the guidelines of the German Research Foundation (DFG). An accompanying document is also available, which provides assistance in completing the templates and explains the most important terms.

Templates Data Management Plan