Types of publication bias and its background are introduced in this paper, and publication bias can be investigated and deal with three methods: funnel plot, trim and filling method, and formula method. Those methods can be used to detect publication bias in conducting systematic reviews.
This article introduced search methods for adverse effects of healthcare interventions in MEDLINE, EMBASE and CBM (Chinese Biomedical Literature Database). The search strategies included the selection of publication type and the determination of medical subject headings and keywords both in English and Chinese, which will help identify relevant reports.
Objective To analyze the citation classics articles， and approach the research development history and the research direction in the future about surgical treatment for type 2 diabetes. Methods The most frequently cited articles had published in Social Sciences Citation Index database by the end of October 30， 2012 were retrieved. The 50 most frequently cited articles were selected. Articles were evaluated for several characteristics， including number of citations， publication time， country of origin， institution， journal， publication type of article， and authorship. Results The most frequently cited article received 1 751 citations and the least frequently cited article received 73 citations， with a mean of 242.76 citations per article. These citation classics were published in 18 high-impact journals， led by Annals of Surgery and Obesity Research as 10 papers. Of the 50 articles， 18 articles were clinical observational study， 20 articles concerned basic science， 10 articles were review articles， and 2 articles were commentary. These citation classics were published from 1990 to 2009， most of them （40） from 2000 to 2009. Three institutions produced 2 top-cited articles， including Medical College of Virginia， Monash University， and East Carolina University. These articles originated from 14 countries， the top was USA （22 articles）. Two persons authored 3 published papers （Cummings DE and Rubino F）. Conclusion Most “citation classics” in research about surgery for type 2 diabetes are observational studies published in high-impact journals by US-based authors after 1990.
Medical ethic and publication ethic was more and more and important with the development of trial registration and systematic review registration promoted by the World Health Organization and the Cochrane Collaboration. Chinese Trial Registration and Publication Collaboration (ChiCTRPC) published the first statement to implement trial registration in China. We suggested that trial registration should be combined with ethic review and described the new definition of publication ethic in the second meeting by ChiCTRPC in 2010. In the the third meeting of ChiCTRPC in 2011, Experts from many fields communicated adequately and reached consensus. We summarized the experiences and lessons in the 5 years after the first statement of ChiCTRPC was published. Based on the latest progress of research ethic, publication ethic, trial registration, and systematic review registration, we drafted this explanation document for the second statement of ChiCTRPC to realize good research practice (RGP), good publication practice (GPP), and good translation practice (GTP) by implementing research ethic and publication ethic.
Objective To learn the current status, publication standards, formats, and contents of medical advertisements published in journals in China, and to discuss the possibility of evidence-based evaluation and standards for advertisement publication. Methods We handsearched Issue One, 2008 of 222 core medical journals indexed by A Guide to the Core Journals of China (2004 version) and the most important databases to index top 20% academic journals to identify basic journal information and the content of their advertisements. The general and trade name of the drugs, and the advertisements and production license number of the drugs and devices were collected. We used EXCEL software for data input and SPSS 13.0 for statistical analyses. Results Two-hundred and eighteen journals were handsearched and evaluated. The other 4 journals were excluded because the print version could not be found. A total of 1,201 advertisements were published in 159 (72.9%) of the journals, with the average of 5.5 (range of 1-37) for each journal. Of the advertisements, 910 (75.8%) were related to medical drugs or devices, including 598 (49.8%) drug and 312 (26.0%) medical device advertisements. Most of them were published in clinical and special medical journals. There were 518 (86.6%) drug advertisements which had both advertisement license and production license number, but only 116 (36.1%) medical device advertisements stated the advertisement license and production license number. Conclusion The medical drug advertisements published in core medical journals in China lack sufficient publication standards, and medical device advertisements are even worse. We cannot conclude the efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of advertisement production according to the current limited, unclear, and highly-commercialized advertisements.
Objective To suggest the establishment a publication plan for emergency situations in order to better manage and control information to the outside environment based on the experience of front-line hospital of grade III level A in Deyang during the response to the Wenchuan earthquake. Method We systematically collected statistical information published in the forms of news, columns, newspapers, periodicals, statistics, brief massage sent out by China Telecom ans China Mobile and banners in various media (CCTV, Sichuan TV, and inside hospital etc.) after Wenchuan earthquake.Result Within 40 days after the Wenchuan Earthquake, the People’s Hospital of Deyang City had reported rescue information for 181 times, sent 1 600 000 phone messages to the public, issued 7 476 pieces of family-search information, distributed 1 486 earthquake first-aid brochures, distributed 1 750 psychological brochures, compiled 12 periodicals called “Special Report for Earthquake Relief Effort”, and finished 3 periodicals called “Special Issue for Earthquake Relief Effort”; issued 319 articles, over 200pictures and videos on websites inside and outside of the hospital; issued over 60 pieces of news and 7 special topic documentaries in CCTV etc.; and issued over 70 pieces of news on People’s Daily. Conclusion During the Wenchuan earthquake, the People’s Hospital of Deyang City shows the rescue work to the public via effective publication mechanisms. News and information is transmitted fast and effectively between people from both upper and lower levels. However, there are weaknesses in working mechanisms and methods, which requires further study and consideration.
The conclusions of meta-analyses are susceptible to various of biases, and publication bias is one of such main bias. Therefore, Checking for evidence of publication bias should be undertaken routinely at the preliminary stage of a meta-analysis. Begg’s test, Egger’s test, and Macaskill’s test are usually used to objectively identify publication bias in meta-analyses. In order to conveniently use these methods, the SAS program of these three tests was designed in this paper. In order test practical data, the fact that the output of this program of SAS software was consisted with the output of STATA software was validated. So, this program is an alternative way to do such hypothesis tests to identify the publication bias in meta-analyses.
This paper introduces the main contents of ROB-ME (Risk Of Bias due to Missing Evidence), including backgrounds, scope of the tool, signal questions and the operation process. The ROB-ME tool has the advantages of clear logic, complete details, simple operation and good applicability. The ROB-ME tool offers considerable advantages for assessing the risk of non-reporting biases and will be useful to researchers, thus being worth popularizing and applying.
Selective non-reporting and publication bias of study results threaten the validity of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, thus affect clinical decision making. There are no rigorous methods to evaluate the risk of bias in network meta-analyses currently. This paper introduces the main contents of ROB-MEN (risk of bias due to missing evidence in network meta-analysis), including tables of the tool, operation process and signal questions. The pairwise comparisons table and the ROB-MEN table are the tool’s core. The ROB-MEN tool can be applied to very large and complex networks including lots of interventions to avoid time-consuming and labor-intensive process, and it has the advantages of clear logic, complete details and good applicability. It is the first tool used to evaluate the risk of bias due to missing evidence in network meta-analysis and is useful to researchers, thus being worth popularizing and applying.