The metadata and additional documentation should be recorded throughout the research process to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness. It should be stored and published alongside research data in an accessible and reliable format appropriate for the type of study or data. Your metadata will likely come from several sources during your research:

It's best not to wait until the middle or end of the project to write documentation. There are many aspects of your research project and associated dataset(s) that warrant documentation. Some broad categories to consider documenting: Context of data collection; Data collection methods; Information about variables used; File organization and ...

The PRISMA-S Group has developed an extension to PRISMA to assist researchers in documenting their literature searches for systematic reviews and other knowledge syntheses. The checklist identifies what to document in terms of information sources and methods, search strategies, peer review, and records management.

Data collection methods; Structure and organization of data files; Data sources used (see citing data) ... Documentation is indeed one approach to creating metadata, as it involves describing or annotating your data. Below are two common examples of data documentation used to describe tabular research data. ... Research data files and folders ...

Some common best practices for data documentation include: Establishing a convention - use consistent methods for data entry and store; Be descriptive - use descriptive filenames and information rather than generic ones; Include dates when applicable - relying on system dates can be unreliable and misleading