How to Cite Open Syndrome

Table of Contents

When using Open Syndrome definitions, datasets, or tools in your work, please cite them appropriately.
In all cases, we recommend also citing the Open Syndrome paper, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research:

Gomes Ferreira, A. P., Anžel, A., Marcilio, I., Hughes, H., Elliot, A. J., Kong, J. D., Schranz, M., Ullrich, A., & Hattab, G. (2026).
The Open Syndrome Definition as a Machine-Readable Standard for Public Health: Design and Implementation Study.
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 28, e86249. https://doi.org/10.2196/86249

JMIR’s preferred citation format:

Gomes Ferreira AP, Anžel A, Marcilio I, Hughes H, Elliot AJ, Kong JD, Schranz M, Ullrich A, Hattab G.
The Open Syndrome Definition as a Machine-Readable Standard for Public Health: Design and Implementation Study.
J Med Internet Res 2026;28:e86249. URL: https://www.jmir.org/2026/1/e86249. doi: 10.2196/86249

Citing Case Definitions #

For case definitions, cite the original source, the Open Syndrome paper, and the definition link:

[Original Author(s)]. [Title of Definition]. [Year]. [Original Source].
Also cite:
Gomes Ferreira, A. P., Anžel, A., Marcilio, I., Hughes, H., Elliot, A. J., Kong, J. D., Schranz, M., Ullrich, A., & Hattab, G. (2026).
The Open Syndrome Definition as a Machine-Readable Standard for Public Health: Design and Implementation Study.
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 28, e86249. https://doi.org/10.2196/86249
Available from (Open Syndrome format): https://opensyndrome.org/definitions/diarrhea-definition/
Repository: https://github.com/OpenSyndrome/definitions

Citing the Dataset #

When using the Open Syndrome dataset, cite the paper and dataset link:

Gomes Ferreira, A. P., Anžel, A., Marcilio, I., Hughes, H., Elliot, A. J., Kong, J. D., Schranz, M., Ullrich, A., & Hattab, G. (2026).
The Open Syndrome Definition as a Machine-Readable Standard for Public Health: Design and Implementation Study.
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 28, e86249. https://doi.org/10.2196/86249
Dataset available from: https://huggingface.co/datasets/opensyndrome/case-definitions

Citing the Tools and Repositories #

When using Open Syndrome tools or repositories, cite the paper and the GitHub organization:

Gomes Ferreira, A. P., Anžel, A., Marcilio, I., Hughes, H., Elliot, A. J., Kong, J. D., Schranz, M., Ullrich, A., & Hattab, G. (2026).
The Open Syndrome Definition as a Machine-Readable Standard for Public Health: Design and Implementation Study.
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 28, e86249. https://doi.org/10.2196/86249
Tools available from: https://github.com/OpenSyndrome/

BibTeX #

If you prefer BibTeX, the journal version is the preferred entry:

@article{gomesferreira2026opensyndromejmir,
      title={The Open Syndrome Definition as a Machine-Readable Standard for Public Health: Design and Implementation Study},
      author={Gomes Ferreira, Ana Paula and Anžel, Aleksandar and Marcilio, Izabel and Hughes, Helen and Elliot, Alex J and Kong, Jude Dzevela and Schranz, Madlen and Ullrich, Alexander and Hattab, Georges},
      journal={Journal of Medical Internet Research},
      year={2026},
      volume={28},
      pages={e86249},
      doi={10.2196/86249},
      url={https://www.jmir.org/2026/1/e86249}
}

The arXiv preprint is also available:

@misc{ferreira2025opensyndromedefinition,
      title={The Open Syndrome Definition}, 
      author={Ana Paula Gomes Ferreira and Aleksandar Anžel and Izabel Oliva Marcilio de Souza and Helen Hughes and Alex J Elliot and Jude Dzevela Kong and Madlen Schranz and Alexander Ullrich and Georges Hattab},
      year={2025},
      eprint={2509.25434},
      archivePrefix={arXiv},
      primaryClass={cs.AI},
      url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25434}
}

Questions? #

If you have any questions about citing Open Syndrome, please contact us