Need for Training in Research Methodology Prior to Conducting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, and the Effectiveness of an Online Training Program: The Global Andrology Forum Model.

Preamble:
In the era of evidence-based medical practice, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses (SRMAs) have great value in molding the clinical opinions and guiding practice recommendations. It is generally assumed that the authors of a SRMA are fully trained and qualified to carry out this type of research. Surprisingly, no study in the worldwide literature has specifically addressed this issue or answeredif a focused training of researchers involved in SRMAs may impact the quality of the SRMA. In this article, we describe a novel, online training program to train clinicians and researchers engaged in the conduct of SRMAs, document their level of skills prior to this training, and discuss the outcome of such a training.

Briefly, what is our vision?
The training and the experience of the researchers performing the SRMAs are usually not explained in the SRMAs' methodology, and this may be a source of bias. With the recent explosion of SRMAs, there is an increasing risk of poorly conducted studies being published and used for establishing clinical guidelines. Therefore, there is a need for a robust quality control of SRMAs by effective training of researchers in different steps of SRMAs. Optimizing the performance of the research team conducting an SRMAs will ensure the accuracy of all steps of the SRMA, and guarantee that the best available medical evidence is presented.

Why do we do what we do?
The Global Andrology Forum (GAF) is an international online scientific group established in 2021, is committed to conducting the highest quality research related to male reproductive and sexual health including SRMAs. While conducting SRMAs, the GAF realized that to avoid mistakes during the study, it is necessary to train the researchers rigorously. Hence, GAF developed a comprehensive online training program that focuses on all the steps of SRMA including the search of different databases, data acquisition and analysis and quality check of included studies.

Online Research: A fantasy or a fact?
The GAF is engaged in several SRMAs. A unique feature of our research group is that it is entirely online, which enables it to break free of geographical boundaries and engage many talented researchers from all over the world. Thanks to our large team we have been able to perform dozens of SRMAs with no limitations of time or language and verify each step in duplicate or triplicate. To further ensure that the research done by the GAF was of the highest quality, we provide online training in the various steps involved in conducting SRMAs and test the research knowledge and skills of our team.

Lastly, online research conducted in Andrology by GAF researchers is genuine and not a fantasy – this is proven by over two dozen original scientific publications in high impact journals in less than two years.

Online research may be a novel approach in medical field but there are several examples of such research in other fields. This research can be conducted entirely on an online platform without the need for a laboratory, expensive equipment, funding by government or private foundations or other type of resources. Some examples of online esearch are:

Scientometrics research: This analysis focuses on measuring and evaluating various indicators, such as publication output, citations, collaboration patterns, author productivity, journal impact factors, and research impact.
Social media research: This type of research involves collecting and analyzing data from social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. This data can be used to study a variety of topics, such as public opinion, social movements, and consumer behavior.
Survey research: This type of research involves collecting data from a large number of people through surveys. Surveys can be conducted online, through the mail, or over the phone. This data can be used to study a variety of topics, such as public opinion, customer satisfaction, and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Text mining: This type of research involves extracting and analyzing text data from a variety of sources, such as news articles, academic papers, and social media posts. This data can be used to study a variety of topics, such as trends in language use, the spread of misinformation, and the impact of social media on society.

CAPSULE: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the need for training of the researchers involved in the conduct of SRMAs. Indeed, even well trained clinicians are often naïve in the methodology of SRMAs. Therefore, we advocate that all researchers performing an SRMA should undergo a comprehensive training that must cover each aspect of the SRMA methodology. Our article offers an example of an online training program that could be used to impart knowledge and skills to researchers performing high-quality SRMAs.



Acknowledgment: Ramadan Saleh, MD (Sohag, Egypt), and Ashok Agarwal (Cleveland, USA) contributed this week’s research summary.