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. 2021 Aug 11;17(1):270.
doi: 10.1186/s12917-021-02971-1.

Systematic review of the status of veterinary epidemiological research in two species regarding the FAIR guiding principles

Anne Meyer  1   2 , Céline Faverjon  3 , Miel Hostens  4 , Arjan Stegeman  4 , Angus Cameron  3
Affiliations

Systematic review of the status of veterinary epidemiological research in two species regarding the FAIR guiding principles

Anne Meyer et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: The FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles were proposed in 2016 to set a path towards reusability of research datasets. In this systematic review, we assessed the FAIRness of datasets associated with peer-reviewed articles in veterinary epidemiology research published since 2017, specifically looking at salmonids and dairy cattle. We considered the differences in practices between molecular epidemiology, the branch of epidemiology using genetic sequences of pathogens and hosts to describe disease patterns, and non-molecular epidemiology.

Results: A total of 152 articles were included in the assessment. Consistent with previous assessments conducted in other disciplines, our results showed that most datasets used in non-molecular epidemiological studies were not available (i.e., neither findable nor accessible). Data availability was much higher for molecular epidemiology papers, in line with a strong repository base available to scientists in this discipline. The available data objects generally scored favourably for Findable, Accessible and Reusable indicators, but Interoperability was more problematic.

Conclusions: None of the datasets assessed in this study met all the requirements set by the FAIR principles. Interoperability, in particular, requires specific skills in data management which may not yet be broadly available in the epidemiology community. In the discussion, we present recommendations on how veterinary research could move towards greater reusability according to FAIR principles. Overall, although many initiatives to improve data access have been started in the research community, their impact on the availability of datasets underlying published articles remains unclear to date.

Keywords: Dairy cattle; Data access; FAIR; Salmonids; Veterinary epidemiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of the selected articles by country of origin and species (N = 152)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of the selected articles according to publication year, species, discipline and accessibility of raw data (N = 152). Note that 2020 publications were assessed until October 18th only. For the molecular epidemiology papers, the raw data referred to in this figure are the molecular data. Note that 2020 publications were assessed until October 18th only. For the molecular epidemiology papers, the raw data referred to in this figure are the molecular data
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Presence of a data availability statement in the journals (N = 62) publishing the selected articles according to publication year and species. Some individual journals may appear in more than 1 year, species or discipline. Note that 2020 publications were assessed until October 18th only
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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