Standardized multilingual collaborative reporting of evidence synthesis

Article type
Authors
1Cochrane Consumer Executive, International; Brainstrust, UK
2Faculty of Life and Allied Health Sciences, MS Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India; Evidence Synthesis & Implementation for Indigenous Health: A JBI Affiliate Centre, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
3JBI, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
4Health Evidence Synthesis, Recommendations and Impact (HESRI), School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
5Cameroon Consumer Service Organization (CamCoSO), Bamenda, Cameroon; University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
6Science For All, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
7Cochrane Consumer Executive, International; Clinical Research Center, FundaciĆ³n Valle del Lili, Cali, Colombia, Cali, Colombia
8Discipline of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland; Evidence Synthesis Ireland, Galway, Ireland
Abstract
Background: Standardised Data on Initiatives (STARDIT) addresses the lack of standardized reporting for evidence synthesis across disciplines and languages. It provides a framework for sharing details like stakeholder involvement (including patients and the public), data sources, and methods, aiming to improve transparency and collaboration in evidence-based research.

Objective: STARDIT will be used to report evidence synthesis across disciplines in a standardized way, collaborating in partnership with patients and people from organizations including JBI, Cochrane, and Campbell.

Methods: STARDIT development began in 2019, guided by participatory action research paradigms. A multidisciplinary international team of over 100 citizens, experts, and data users co-created STARDIT. To ensure this project is of relevance and importance to patients, co-creators include patients with cancer, people living with rare diseases, and people affected by other conditions. Co-creators also include Indigenous peoples from multiple countries, representatives involved in evidence synthesis processes, health researchers, environmental researchers, economists, librarians, and academic publishers. Methods of involving people included public events, online discussions, and a public consultation process. STARDIT is free to use, and data can be submitted by anyone. Report authors can be verified to improve trust and transparency, and data can be checked for quality. STARDIT has been designed to align with (not replace) existing reporting standards and methodological approaches, including PRISMA, GRADE, eMERGe, RAMESES, ROSES, and ENTREQ.

Results: STARDIT facilitates the co-design of open access, multilingual information about evidence synthesis processes. Anyone can contribute and verify details, empowering stakeholders like patients and the public to be involved in shaping and defining terminology. Organizations like Australian Genomics endorse STARDIT, which is supported and hosted by Wikimedia Australia (see working Beta version at ScienceForAll.World/STARDIT).

Conclusions: STARDIT improves access to standardized and verified information about evidence synthesis processes, enabling comparisons of the effectiveness of different methods, including the most effective methods of involving stakeholders. By being open access and editable by anyone, STARDIT can support participatory ways of working and help improve the equity and quality of evidence synthesis processes worldwide.