Q: How can I ask the authors of a published paper about the data for my meta-analysis? (Part 1)

Detailed Question -

While performing meta-analysis for an intervention, I want to know the mean value, standard deviation and number of samples of each extracted paper. But some results are reported in graphs (figure), so their specific value is unknown. Therefore, I want to write to the authors inquiring about this. At the time of inquiry, which points should I take care of? Is there anything I should consider or explain?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

Usually during conducting a meta-analysis, the aggregated data is used. However, this may lead to some important information getting missed out. Therefore, sometimes the author of a meta-analysis prefers to gather raw data from the authors of the previous articles. The data that are required from the previous authors depends on the specific topics of the studies and the objective of the meta-analysis.

Broadly speaking, you may start by looking at the relevant repositories to check if the data you are looking for are already deposited and available for further use. If you need to ask for specific data from the previous authors, you may inquire if there is a privacy law prohibiting releasing the original data, and also consider proposing a collaboration to develop a transparent professional relationship. Depending on the extent of the requested data, you may also need to share the authorship of your paper with the author(s) of the previous study.

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