Reflections on adapting and promoting transparent and reproducible science practices for researchers engaged in secondary data analyses

Bernt Glaser; Laurie Hannigan; Torunn Graftås; Helga Ask; Pia Myklebust Johannessen; Meseret Mamo Bazezew; Adrian Dahl Askelund

doi:10.7557/5.8199

Authors

Bernt Glaser Norwegian Institute of Public Health https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6974-571X
Laurie Hannigan Norwegian Institute of Public Health https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3123-5411
Torunn Graftås Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Helga Ask Norwegian Institute of Public Health https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0149-5319
Pia Myklebust Johannessen Norwegian Institute of Public Health https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6464-7271
Meseret Mamo Bazezew Lovisenberg Diakonale Sykehus https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8164-8292
Adrian Dahl Askelund Norwegian Institute of Public Health https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2669-5472

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/5.8199

Keywords:

Open science, Reproducibility, Secondary data

Abstract

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Researchers motivated to foster a culture valuing reproducibility and transparency in their working environments have, more than ever, a wealth of resources and examples to draw on. Nonetheless, each research context is unique, requiring tailored resources and approaches. Here, we reflect on this process as carried out by the PsychGen Working Group for Open and Reproducible Science, a team of researchers committed to advancing open and reproducible science at the PsychGen Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, based at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, since its inception in 2023. The predominant focus of researchers in the PsychGen Centre on secondary data analysis has guided the activities of our working group, leading us to prioritise preregistration (and, in particular, adapting preregistration templates for secondary data analytic contexts), open sharing of analytic code, and open access publication. We provide a narrative overview of the process of adapting resources, building competence, and promoting a cultural shift towards adoption of these practices across an interdisciplinary research group and its wider collaborative network. Notable successes in this process include the widespread adoption, within the group, of a tailored preregistration format for confirmatory secondary data analyses, publication of a first-in-field Registered Report, and improved code sharing practices. However, challenges remain, particularly in areas of open data - given the current data sharing restrictions - and navigation of an ever-changing open access publishing landscape. We conclude by offering insights into our current working practices and plans for the future, hoping to stimulate discussion on the ways in which transparency and reproducibility can be practically promoted ‘on the ground’.

Author Biographies

Bernt Glaser, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Bernt Glaser is a PhD student at the PsychGen Centre for genetic epidemiology and mental health, at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. His research focusses on the roles of genetics and the family environment in the context of neurodevelopmental conditions.
Laurie Hannigan, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Laurie Hannigan is a senior researcher based at the Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo, Norway. He completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Southampton, in the UK, followed by a master’s in Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry at King’s College London. He obtained his PhD in Behavior Genetics from King’s in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Thalia Eley and Dr. Tom McAdams. After a short postdoctoral position at the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Health and Wellbeing in 2018, he moved to Oslo to focus on genetic epidemiological work with the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort study (MoBa). He now co-leads the Psychiatric Genetic Epidemiology (PaGE) research group at Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital and is a member of the PsychGen Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health at NIPH. He also holds an honorary research associate position at the MRC Intergrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol. His research interests include studying within-family transmission of risk for psychiatric disorders, the aetiology and development of emotional and behavioural problems, factors influencing the emergence of neurodevelopmental conditions, patterns and consequences of comorbidity and multimorbidity, and methodological issues in the application of developmental genetic epidemiological approaches to birth cohort and population registry data sources.
Torunn Graftås, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Torunn Graftås is a senior librarian specializing in open science, scholarly publishing and bibliometrics.
Helga Ask, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Helga Ask is the co-director of the PsychGen Center at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. She has extensive experience using MoBa data to investigate the development of mental health problems in the population. She is currently leading large Nordic collaborative projects on pandemic and post-pandemic mental health.
Pia Myklebust Johannessen, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Pia Myklebust Johannessen is an advisor at the Department of Mental Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. She is a member of the Open and Reproducible Science group at the PsychGen Center, and her PhD project focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among Norwegian adults
Meseret Mamo Bazezew, Lovisenberg Diakonale Sykehus

Meseret .M Bazezew, MSc, a Biostatistician with over five years of experience in health-related research, with responsibilities including leading the full survey process as well as conducting secondary data analyses. Currently, she is a PhD research fellow in the Psychiatric Genetic Epidemiology (PaGE) group at Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital. Her research focusses on dealing with missing data in children and adolescence psychiatric genetic epidemiology research.
Adrian Dahl Askelund, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Adrian Dahl Askelund (Cand. psychol., MPhil, PhD) is a clinical psychologist from the University of Oslo and MPhil in Medical Science (Psychiatry) from the University of Cambridge. His PhD in the PaGE group focused on the developmental emergence of mental health problems in childhood and adolescence. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at NIPH, focusing on the intergenerational transmission of depression and psychosis, as part of the EU-funded FAMILY project.