singlestudy

Singlestudy is a term used in some research databases and evidence repositories to denote an article or dataset that presents results from a single study, without pooling with other studies. It contrasts with meta-analyses or multi-study syntheses. Not widely standardized, singlestudy is often used in online catalogs and platforms to indicate lack of replication.

In practice, singlestudy may appear as a tagged item in indexing, annotations, or metadata, and can refer to a single randomized controlled trial, cohort study, or qualitative study. Within evidence hierarchies, single studies can inform about feasibility, preliminary efficacy, or exploratory findings, but they carry higher uncertainty and lower generalizability than synthesized evidence.

The concept highlights the balance between rapid dissemination and the need for replication. Benefits of singlestudy annotations include quicker access to new ideas, usefulness for rare conditions, early-stage research, pilot feasibility, and hypothesis generation. Limitations include an increased risk of spurious conclusions due to small sample sizes, publication bias, limited external validity, and potential inconsistencies in reporting.

An example would be a single randomized trial on a new drug or a qualitative study with a narrow scope that is marked as singlestudy in a repository. Singlestudy entries are typically considered weaker evidence than studies that are aggregated through systematic reviews or meta-analyses, and they are often prioritized for follow-up with replication or expansion.

See also: meta-analysis, systematic review, replication, evidence hierarchy, pilot study, feasibility study.