ESM Item Repository

Improving Transparency in Science: ESM Item Repository

ESM stands forĀ Ecological Sampling Method – think of it as a tool for following the development of your mood over the day. Such as filling in a mood diary 5 times a day, but then on your smartphone. ESM is currently enjoying clinical and academic interest as it enables users to monitor mood intensively in an ecological valid environment.

However, the current infrastructure for systematically categorising and storing ESM questions – or items – is a hot mess; because there is no such infrastructure in place yet!

As you could imagine, having a plethora of scientists around the world creating, translating, and editing ESM items without proper infrastructure will hinder transparency and reproducibility. Especially as a clear overview of these items, their history of use and edits, is not systematically documented anywhere.

Hence, an inspiring team of researchers from the KU Leuven, and myself, have started the ESM Item Repository – an online database for ESM items.

ESM items can be easily accessed through an online portal. If you want to find out more, or perhaps even help adding items to the repository, check out our OSF page! More interested in the code? Check out our accompanying Github page here.

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