Reports of clinical trials should begin and end with up-to-date systematic reviews of other relevant evidence: A status report.
Abstract
Scientific and ethical justification for new clinical trials requires them to have been designed in the light of scientifically defensible assessments of relevant previous research. Reliable interpretation of the results of new clinical trials entails setting them in the context of updates of the reviews upon which they were deemed scientifically and ethically justifiable. We have shown previously that most reports of randomized trials published in five general medical journals in May 1997 and in May 2001 failed to set their results in the context of the findings from similar research. In the current study, we assess whether there had been progress in this respect in 2005 and also investigate the extent to which reports begin by referring to systematic reviews providing the justification for the new research reported.
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Authors of primary studies do not consider a systematic review when they design their studies.
“There is evidence that this still does not occur as it should and that authors of primary studies do not consider a systematic review when they design their studies [163].”
From The PRISMA Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Studies That Evaluate Health Care Interventions: Explanation and Elaboration (2009) · cites this paper as [163]
Cites
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Self-citationLiberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gotzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2700 · Cited by 17,648 · see citing works
Self-citationLiberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · Italian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2427/5768 · Cited by 3,374 · see citing works
Self-citationMoher, D., Hopewell, S., Schulz, K. F., Montori, V., Gøtzsche, P. C., Devereaux, P. J., Elbourne, D., Egger, M., & Altman, D. G. (2012) · International Journal of Surgery · doi:10.1016/j.ijsu.2011.10.001 · Cited by 2,345 · see citing works
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Self-citationWhy Most Clinical Research Is Not Useful
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Forest plots in reports of systematic reviews: a cross-sectional study reviewing current practice
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- Authors
- Clarke, M., Hopewell, S., & Chalmers, L.
- Affiliations
- Cochrane (GB)
- James Lind Initiative, Summertown Pavilion, Middle Way, Oxford 0X2 7LG, United Kingdom
- Corresponding author
- Clarke, Mike
- Venue
- Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2007-04
- Volume
- 100
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 187-190
- ISSN
- 0141-0768 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-1095
- OpenAlex
- W4250630426
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 8.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Clinical practice guidelines implementation
- Keywords
- clinical trial reporting, systematic reviews, evidence synthesis, research justification, trial design, medical journal articles, evidence-based medicine
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