Exploring study materials and data sharing practices in traditional, complementary and integrative medicine research: a protocol for a cross-sectional study

Traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM) therapies include those typically considered outside of the purview of conventional medicine. Sharing study materials and data is crucial for enhancing transparency, reproducibility, and data use for secondary data analyses in TCIM research. This cross-sectional study aims to assess the extent to which TCIM study materials and data are made publicly available.

We will analyze a sample of 400 published TCIM research articles including primary studies (e.g. clinical trials, observational studies, and qualitative research), as well as evidence synthesis studies (e.g., systematic reviews and scoping reviews), which are informed by systematic searches. In analyzing these studies, we aim to assess whether and how researchers shared the data and materials they generated or used in their work, including details on how to access them. This study will be conducted by searching the MEDLINE database using the “Complementary Therapies” medical subject heading; records will be screened for eligibility then a sample of eligible articles will be selected at random.

The findings and observations from this analysis will provide insights into current practices and highlight areas for improvement in the transparency and accessibility of TCIM research.