Table 2.

Characteristics of included studies.

Author	Year	Location	Study type	Main findings
Collier, Erin K 15	2020	USA	Editorial	Investigators must conduct clinical trials in a safe, compliant, and ethnically appropriate manner.
de Miguel, Maria 16	2020	Spain	Editorial	Individualizing patient management while guaranteeing their safety and adherence to the study protocol, implementing specialized staff contingency plans, and maintaining sponsor and contract research organization (CRO) alignment are some of the critical problems for the research's long‐term success.
Ellen Townsend 17	2020	United Kingdom	Editorial	To be deemed ethical, all research must have a high benefit‐to‐risk ratio.
Neeta Kantamneni 18	2020	USA	research agenda	More research is needed on individuals experiencing increased discrimination or workload due to the pandemic.
Michelle I. Cardel 19	2020	USA	Quantitative/qualitative cross‐sectional survey	COVID‐19 has four effects on research experiences: transition, remote intervention delivery, ability to adhere to program goals and interest in research involvement
Celeste Cagnazzo 20	2020	Italy	Editorial	The quest to quickly uncover answers to health concerns and therapeutic ideas in the specialized clinical research domain has underlined the necessity for efficient, timely, ethically right research.
Adam Palayew 21	2020	Canada	Editorial	Rapid publication ensures that new evidence is shared on time, particularly during a fast‐moving health crisis such as the COVID‐19 pandemic. Nonetheless, there are steps that the scientific community can and should take to prevent the accelerated pace of COVID‐19 publishing from weakening the evidence base.
Hamasaki, Toshimitsu 22	2020	USA	Editorial	The COVID‐19 pandemic poses huge hurdles, particularly to medical research, as these disruptions have wreaked havoc on ongoing and planned clinical studies.
M Wolkewitz 23	2020	Germany	Editorial	Numerous methodological challenges are associated with producing, gathering, analyzing, reporting, and publishing data in the compressed timeframes required during a pandemic.
Padala, Prasad 24 R	2020	USA	Perspective	The risk‐benefit ratio of conducting, rescheduling, or canceling each research visit is determined by the principal investigator (PI). To ultimately decide on the course of action, the PI should examine the ethical principles of research, local/national advice, the community danger of the pandemic in their region, staffing strain, and the risk involved to each participant.
M Akacha 25	2020	Switzerland	Editorial	The COVID‐19 pandemic and associated measures may also impact the types, incidence, severity, and duration of adverse events (AEs) recorded for experimental therapies and in the control group.
Sarah J Richardson 26	2020	UK	Commentary	COVID‐19 research must be inclusive, particularly involving elderly living with frailty, cognitive impairment, or multimorbidity. Non‐COVID‐19‐related research for older people remains critical and must not be neglected in the rush to study the pandemic. Significant changes are required in designing and delivering research for older people in a world where movement and face‐to‐face contact are restricted.
Xitao Ma 14	2020	China	Commentary	Ethical review‐related regulations must be updated, and a unified supervision system for the overall ethical review committee is required.
B.E. Bierer 11	2020	USA	Editorial	During COVID‐19, clinical research was halted or terminated due to urgent patient care needs, and clinical trials focused on treating and preventing coronavirus infection were prioritized over studies focused on other diseases. Electronic data collection and cloud computing; And obligations to share protocols, consents, and data should be applied to rigorous research methods in the service of public health
Shahmir H Ali 27	2020	USA	Web‐based survey	It is vital to use social media recruitment for the rapid collecting of survey data related to rapidly emerging health problems, such as COVID‐19.
Leonardo Tamariz 28	2021	USA	Editorial	Appropriate scientific review of protocols, Devoting special research ethics committees to Covid‐19‐related research, Using alternate members and consultants, and facilitating the conduct of sound scientific and ethical research are the steps that are effective in reducing the pressure of research ethics committees.
Mohan, Sumit 29	2021	USA	Editorial	Process flexibility for staff and research participants may be the catalyst needed to make sustainable improvements to our research processes, roles, and goals.
Shields, Charlotte N 30	2021	USA	Survey study	The most significant barriers to follow‐up included fear of COVID‐19, wait times, and costs.
Jay J H Park 31	2021	Canada	Editorial‐Series	The COVID‐19 pandemic has re‐emphasized the importance of well‐designed randomized clinical trials and highlighted the need for large‐scale clinical trials structured according to a master protocol in a coordinated and collaborative manner.
Caputo, Eduardo L 32	2021	Brazil	Editorial	During the COVID‐19 pandemic, at the same time as there are changes in the format and conduct of research, the process of conducting research should not be interrupted.
Susanne Röhr 33	2021	Germany	Perspective Study	There is a need for special statistical programs to conduct research during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
MeeLee Tom 34	2021	USA	Perspective Study	Strong communication and constant commitment, combined with technical capabilities for remote work, visits, and study medicine distribution, were critical to the effective retention of study participants and resumption of enrolment.
Anderson, Melanie 35	2021	USA	Perspective study	COVID‐19 has significantly impacted clinical studies, and there is a need to change the format of different phases of clinical trials.
TL Loucks 12	2021	USA	special communication	virtual visits and digital approaches are ways to facilitate research conduction.
Perrine Janiaud 36	2021	Switzerland	Survey	Collaborative efforts such as consortiums of trials prospectively planning to pool their results4 and adaptive platform trials such as the RECOVERY trial5 are promising approaches to provide reliable and timely evidence.
B Hensen 37	2021	UK	Commentary	Remote data collection is one of the strategies to continue conducting public health research.
Stephanie Tremblay 38	2021	Canada	Commentary	Conducting interviews in qualitative studies in the era of COVID‐19 is considered a fundamental challenge, and remote methods can, to some extent, continue qualitative research.
Abhinav Bassi 39	2022	Australia	Editorial	Remote methods, the necessity of prioritizing research, and improving research infrastructures are among the critical measures in solving the challenges of conducting research.
Jenail Mobaraka 40	2022	USA	Editorial	Conducting in‐person data collection during a pandemic would place participants and researchers at risk of infection. Therefore, adjusting and compromising the study's goals, design, and methodology to address the new subjective conditions of all actors involved are crucial protective measures.
Catherine A. Sewell 41	2022	USA	Special Report	increased collaboration among stakeholders (federal agencies, industry, academia, and patients and patient advocates) can support progress in conducting research.
Walshe C 42	2022	UK	Multinational Survey	Consideration must be given to widening the volunteer base away from those most vulnerable to COVID‐19.
Jon Salmanton‐García 43	2022	Germany	Epidemiological Study	The VACCELERATE Volunteer Registry is an active single‐entry point for European residents interested in participating in COVID‐19 clinical trials.
Donna A. Santillan 44	2022	USA	Report	Adaptability is essential for network site maintenance. Constant intra‐ and inter‐institutional contact were necessary to manage the rapidly shifting rules for starting and continuing research during the epidemic.
RM Haynes 45	2022	Canada	Point of view	The use of technology can prevent the challenges of conducting research in the era of COVID‐19.
LA Simmons 46	2022	USA	Study design	Remote clinical trials have the ability to not only boost representation and reduce participant travel and study visit hardship but also introduce implementation and participant retention problems.
Rashmi K. Sharma 47	2022	USA	Editorial	During COVID‐19, the use of technology and virtual platforms is critical in doing research.
Diallo, Alpha 48	2022	France	Commentary	Effective medical teamwork is critical in responding to epidemics/pandemics. Regulatory, legal, and financial barriers have dramatically delayed clinical trial efficiency, which is untenable during an active epidemic. Adaptive, large‐scale clinical studies during pandemics should be regarded as a key countermeasure, and regulatory approval should be expedited in accordance with the situation's urgency. This applies to non‐emergencies as well as multicenter clinical trials in general.
Daniel Munblit 9	2022	UK	Editorial	There is an urgent need to refine and standardize outcome metrics for this significant patient group for clinical services and research, as well as to enable data comparison and pooling.
Ricardo Almeida‐Magana 49	2022	UK	Editorial	During the COVID‐19 pandemic, remote e‐Consent‐based recruiting was vital for trial continuation.
Gianna McMillan 50	2022	USA	Editorial	Innovative trial designs, such as basket and umbrella studies, designs that use external data sources, multi‐stage seamless trials, and preplanned data sharing amongst larger trials, are required in pandemic situations.
Micah A. Skeens 51	2022	USA	Survey	Social media recruiting reduced traditional time and engagement hurdles for participants while also avoiding social and physical distancing requirements imposed by the pandemic, allowing for real‐time assessment of the pandemic's effects on families.
Kellie Pertl 52	2023	USA	Cohort Study	Researchers had to move from in‐person to virtual recruitment tactics to reach and engage potential study participants during the COVID‐19 epidemic. During a pandemic, virtual recruitment looks less efficient and has hampered efforts to achieve recruitment goals.
Theresa Burgess 6	2023	South Africa	Qualitative exploration	REC members recognized numerous substantial ethical issues and problems in examining COVID‐19‐related research. While RECs are resilient and adaptive, weariness among reviewers and REC members was a big concern.