Help and frequently asked questions

You can find a quick introduction with several short clips about different functions on our tutorial page.

Can anyone access the contents?

Anyone can acccess the contents of the portal. In order to create, adapt, analyse or re-use the contents, the user has to register free of charge.

How can I search for existing data models?

Enter your query into the above search bar and click the search button on the right. In the search results list there are further filters that you can apply. You can either select keywords or choose a category in the table of contents on the left-hand side (under "Filter search results"). Furthermore, there exists an extended query language. You can use it, for instance, to search through specific fields of a model or combine different search queries. To get an overview of the extended query language along with examples click the info button next to the search bar.

Under which licenses are data models available?

Data models may be uploaded under four different Creative Commons Licenses. Please click to see the terms and conditions:

• Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0
• Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0
• Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0
• Creative Commons BY 4.0

How can I cite the MDM Portal and its content?

We encourage researchers to create, analyze, share and reuse medical data models. This includes, for example, developing new data standards and common data elements or setting up and reusing case report forms for clinical trials and cohort study documentation.

For every use of a medical data model from our portal, please check, if the description field contains a reference to the original source. In this case, cite the original source. If you used a specific data model, you may indicate the URL to the model (e.g. WHO-5 use https://medical-data-models.org/29826). We also offer the registration of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for a data model. You can request a DOI on the left-hand side of the model view and after review we will provide you with a DOI within a few days.

Additionally the following citation guidelines apply:

• Publication: The Method and/or Material section should include "[...] Portal of Medical Data Models" and a reference to a recent publication about the Portal.
• Presentation: Please indicate the URL to the Portal of Medical Data Models (https://medical-data-models.org/).
• Clinical trial, cohort study & registry: When registering your study in a study registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov, EudraCT or the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), either indicate the keyword “Portal of Medical Data Models” or include “Portal of Medical Data Models” in the description of the study

I would like to download more than 50 data models, but I receive an error message.

If you want to download more than 50 models per week, a limit gets activated. Please send us a message with the contact form on the right-hand side, we are able to deactivate the limit for you.

How can I select multiple data models for download or analysis?

This feature is only available for logged-in users. Each data model within the search results list can be added to a list of selected data models (click the plus-sign right-next to each listed data model). The list of user-selected models will be provided under “Selected data models” in the bottom part of the navigation bar. There, the user has the option to

1. download his/her selection (Button “Download selection”) as zip file,
2. get summary and comparison information (Button "Analyze in ODM-Summary") or
3. perform advanced semantic analyses and create user-tailored item-catalogues (Button "Analyze in CDEGenerator").

Navigation via Keyboard

Certain pages can be accessed via Keyboard. In favour press the corresponding key at the same time with your browser's shortcut for accesskeys, normally these are Alt + Shift (Firefox), Alt (others) or Cmd + Alt (Mac):

• d Jump directly to the detail view of the current data model
• e Call the external ODM Editor
• h Show this help page
• l Login
• s Open search page / table of contents
• u Start an upload
• 0 Start page

No answer found to your question?

Send us your questions and comments via the contact box on the right side.