Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40191694›Full record

ArticleQuality & quantity2025

Best practices for studies using digital data donation.

Thijs C Carrière, Laura Boeschoten, Bella Struminskaya, Heleen L Janssen, Niek C de Schipper, Theo Araujo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Quality & quantity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Digital Data Donation With Adolescents.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Thijs C CarrièreDepartment of Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0001-0651-7516
Laura BoeschotenDepartment of Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-3536-0474
Bella StruminskayaDepartment of Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-5944-8163
Heleen L JanssenInstitute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-2785-5741
Niek C de SchipperDepartment of Communication Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-8462-9791
Theo AraujoDepartment of Communication Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4633-9339

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Digital trace data form a rich, growing source of data for social sciences and humanities. Data donation offers an innovative and ethical approach to collect these digital trace data. In data donation studies, participants request a copy of the digital trace data a data controller (e.g., large digital social media or video platforms) collected about them. The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation obliges platforms to provide such a copy. Next, the participant can choose to share (part of) this data copy with the researcher. This way, the researcher can obtain the digital trace data of interest with active consent of the participant. Setting up a data donation study involves several steps and considerations. If executed poorly, these steps might threaten a study's quality. In this paper, we introduce a workflow for setting up a robust data donation study. This workflow is based on error sources identified in the Total Error Framework for data donation by Boeschoten et al. (2022a) as well as on experiences in earlier data donation studies by the authors. The workflow is discussed in detail and linked to challenges and considerations for each step. We aim to provide a starting point with guidelines for researchers seeking to set up and conduct a data donation study.

Indexed as

Data donationData qualityDigital trace dataLocal processingPrivacy preservation

Identifiers

PMID40191694
PMCPMC11971172

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.