Research data communication strategy at the time of pandemics: a retrospective analysis of the Italian experience

Submitted: May 16, 2021
Accepted: July 13, 2021
Published: August 9, 2021
Abstract Views: 1234
PDF: 412
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Authors

Coronavirus pandemic has radically changed the scientific world. During these difficult times, standard peer-review processes could be too long for the continuously evolving knowledge about this disease. We wanted to assess whether the use of other types of network could be a faster way to disseminate the knowledge about Coronavirus disease. We retrospectively analyzed the data flow among three distinct groups of networks during the first three months of the pandemic: PubMed, preprint repositories (biorXiv and arXiv) and social media in Italy (Facebook and Twitter). The results show a significant difference in the number of original research articles published by PubMed and preprint repositories. On social media, we observed an incredible number of physicians participating to the discussion, both on three distinct Italian-speaking Facebook groups and on Twitter. The standard scientific process of publishing articles (i.e., the peer-review process) remains the best way to get access to high-quality research. Nonetheless, this process may be too long during an emergency like a pandemic. The thoughtful use of other types of network, such as preprint repositories and social media, could be taken into consideration in order to improve the clinical management of COVID-19 patients.

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Citations

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How to Cite

Buonsenso, Danilo, Davide Pata, Chiara Rocchetti, Giampietro Marchetti, Stefano Elia, Camillo Il Grande, Piero Valentini, and Guido Levi. 2021. “Research Data Communication Strategy at the Time of Pandemics: A Retrospective Analysis of the Italian Experience”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 92 (1). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2021.1931.