Standardized metadata collection to reinforce collaboration in Collaborative Research Centers

We present our approach for research (meta)data exchange and interconnection of scientists in medium-scale academic projects such as medical collaborative research centers (CRCs). Our webbased tool, fredato, connects established services, which we configure to a custom-tailored software bundle to match the needs of researchers. To improve collaboration, we implemented a metadata acquisition component and search function to complement the existing data management and sharing. More specifically, we enhance three points: 1. Relevant projects need to be findable to re-use data or results, avoid redundant work and improve communication among crc members. 2. The scientists also process sensitive human data for which a privacy-protected, secure exchange is critical. 3. A self-explanatory user interface is required for increased user acceptance. The main feature we present is the handling of metadata in our web application without overwhelming users through extensive and generic forms. We use flexible JSON schemas to precisely target scientists' needs of documentation and enrich them with only ontology components relevant to their use cases. The schemas are stored distributedly as datasets themselves, and automatically converted to modern web forms. Besides custom, domain-specific forms we use this editor for the addition of common metadata schemas (e.g. DataCite). We use the continuous integration capabilities of a connected Gitlab to run data-driven scripts. This includes indexing of all metadata, which makes them searchable in a structured way. Users are provided with contact information for matches and can ask to share data and results. Because project owners decide with whom to share and because datasets and metadata are bundled together, the complete dataset is always accessible (e.g. for publication at a third party repository) and full control retained by data owners. By adding this component to our tool, we provide simple, secure and searchable means for improving collaboration in the context of CRCs

Additional file 1 of Alpha-1-antitrypsin-deficiency is associated with lower cardiovascular risk: an approach based on federated learning

Supplementary Material 1: Figure 1. Flow chart demonstrating the number of AATD and Non-AATD patients at each research database and the respective recording perio