Data, Ethics, Methods, and Reproducibility

Classify the activity

Education, quality improvement, program evaluation, research development, public scholarship, and formal human-subjects research can carry different review and authorization requirements. The responsible local and project authorities determine the pathway before restricted activity begins.

A website intake or collaboration record does not substitute for protocol approval, informed consent, institutional authorization, a data-use agreement, or a secure research environment.

Data stewardship across hubs

The stewardship plan names source, owner, authorized users, purpose, minimum necessary fields, transfer method, approved storage, access review, transformations, derived files, retention, destruction, breach response, and release authority.

Cross-institutional work needs explicit agreement about where analysis occurs, which outputs can move, and who reviews disclosure risk.

Methods, reproducibility, and AI

The methods record includes protocol version, inclusion logic, variables or concepts, code or analytic steps, quality checks, missingness, sensitivity work, deviations, and reviewer decisions. Reproducibility means another qualified reviewer can understand how the result was produced.

AI-assisted work receives a defined purpose, approved information boundary, human verification plan, bias and equity review, material-use record, and release decision.

Module deliverables

• Activity classification
• Data stewardship plan
• Reproducibility checklist
• AI-use and verification record

Reflection and scored assessment

Continue the pathway

Return to the complete pathway to review progress, open the next module, or download the guidebook and working packet.