.. _contributing:

Contributing
===================

As we are actively developing the RD-CDM, we welcome contributions in the form 
of new resources, new concepts, or new relationships. This RD-CDM is a
non-balloted extension of the ERDRI-CDS which aims to provide as an 
internationally viable template for the development of country-specific 
common data models. Furhtermore, the RD-CDM is designed to be compatible with
the GA4GH Phenopacket Schema, HL7 FHIR, and the International Patient Summary.

We encourage contributions to the RD-CDM. These contributions can be in the
form of new resources, new concepts, relationships, or implementations.

.. tip::
    The RD-CDM paper has now been published at Nature Scientific Data. You can 
    read it `here <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-04558-z>`_!


If you would like to contribute, please consider the following:

1. GitHub Issues
-----------------
Feel free to create a new issue on our `GitHub repository <https://github.com/BIH-CEI/rd-cdm/issues>`_.
We welcome feedback, suggestions, and bug reports.

2. Reach out directly
---------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to reach out to us. 
You can contact us via email at adam.graefe@charite.de.

3. Implementation
-----------------

We actively encourage users to impleemnt and test our RD-CDM in various 
healthcare information systems. If you have implemented the RD-CDM in your
system, please let us know. We would be happy to hear about your experience
and any feedback you may have.

.. note::
    We are currently working on an implementation of the RD-CDM in
    REDCap to enable the generation of FHIR Resources and Phenopackets from 
    REDCap. If you would like to contribute to the implementation or have any 
    questions, feel free to reach out or find us on `GitHub <https://github.com/BIH-CEI/RareLink>`_.

4. Documentation
----------------

If you would like to contribute to the documentation, please feel free create 
an issue in our `GitHub repository <https://github.com/BIH-CEI/rd-cdm/issues>`_ 
or reach out to us directly. We are always looking for ways to improve our 
documentation and welcome any suggestions.

.. note::
    We are currently working on a new version of the RD-CDM documentation
    which will be available on `Read the Docs <https://rd-cdm.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`_.