The DOI matches its Crossref record; 67 of the 67 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Observational Research, Randomised Trials, and Two Views of Medical Science
Open accessAbstract
Two views exist of medical science, says the author, one emphasizing discovery and explanation, the other emphasizing evaluation of interventions.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Figures
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Because the strengths and limitations of methods used to conduct research with routinely collected data may be contentious, a clear description of a study’s objectives is essential [23,24].”
From The Reporting of Studies Conducted Using Observational Routinely-Collected Health Data (RECORD) statement. (2015) · cites this paper as [23]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
von Elm, E., Altman, D. G., Egger, M., Pocock, S. J., Gøtzsche, P. C., Vandenbroucke, J. P., & Initiative, F. T. S. (2007) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040296 · Cited by 23,020
Self-citationGenome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls
The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Management Committee, Burton, P. R., Clayton, D. G., Cardon, L. R., Craddock, N., Deloukas, P., Duncanson, A., Kwiatkowski, D. P., McCarthy, M. I., et al. (2007) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05911 · Cited by 9,442
From the New York Times Magazine
Minsky, & Hyman, P. (1979) · Cited by 6,899
No adjustments are needed for multiple comparisons.
Rothman, K. J. (1990) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/00001648-199001000-00010 · Cited by 5,965
Why Most Published Research Findings Are False
Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2005) · CHANCE · doi:10.1080/09332480.2005.10722754 · Cited by 4,702 · cited 1×
“The importance of the prior odds at which research is started was highlighted in a paper describing “Why most research findings are false” [45].”
BackgroundClinical Epidemiology: A Basic Science for Clinical Medicine.
(1991) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-114-9-825_9 · Cited by 3,497
The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, U.K.
Mossman, K. (2008) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0108-42a · Cited by 2,714
Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung
Doll, R., & Hill, A. B. (1950) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4682.739 · Cited by 1,999
RE: “ESTIMABILITY AND ESTIMATION IN CASE-REFERENT STUDIES”
Halperin, M. (1977) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112409 · Cited by 1,546
Statistical Methods and Scientific Inference.
Bartlett, M. S., & Fisher, R. A. (1957) · Biometrika · doi:10.2307/2333276 · Cited by 1,294
Vandenbroucke, J. P., Koster, T., Rosendaal, F. R., Briët, E., Reitsma, P. H., & Bertina, R. M. (1994) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(94)90286-0 · Cited by 1,063
Self-citationSubgroup analysis in randomised controlled trials: importance, indications, and interpretation
Rothwell, P. M. (2005) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)17709-5 · Cited by 942
Allocation concealment in randomised trials: defending against deciphering
Schulz, K. F., & Grimes, D. A. (2002) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(02)07750-4 · Cited by 923
Smoking and Lung Cancer: Recent Evidence and a Discussion of Some Questions
Cornfield, J., Haenszel, W. M., Hammond, E., Lilienfeld, A. M., Shimkin, M. B., & Wynder, E. L. (1959) · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · doi:10.1093/jnci/22.1.173 · Cited by 850
Clinical Epidemiology: A Basic Science for Clinical Medicine.
(1985) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-102-6-874_2 · Cited by 778
Rothman, K. J., Greenland, S., & Lash, T. L. (2008) · Encyclopedia of Quantitative Risk Analysis and Assessment · doi:10.1002/9780470061596.risk0599 · Cited by 706
When are randomised trials unnecessary? Picking signal from noise
Glasziou, P., Chalmers, I., Rawlins, M. D., & McCulloch, P. G. (2007) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.39070.527986.68 · Cited by 585
Oral Contraceptives and the Risk of Venous Thrombosis
Vandenbroucke, J. P., Rosing, J., Bloemenkamp, K. W. M., Middeldorp, S., Helmerhorst, F. M., Bouma, B. N., & Rosendaal, F. R. (2001) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm200105173442007 · Cited by 580
Self-citationIn Defense of Case Reports and Case Series
Vandenbroucke, J. P. (2001) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-134-4-200102200-00017 · Cited by 562
Self-citationWhen are observational studies as credible as randomised trials?
Vandenbroucke, J. P. (2004) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(04)16261-2 · Cited by 538 · cited 1×
“The argument for why randomisation is most of the time not needed in observational research on causes of diseases [”
BackgroundSelf-citationSolomon, D. H., Schneeweiß, S., Glynn, R. J., Kiyota, Y., Levin, R., Mogun, H., & Avorn, J. (2004) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000127578.21885.3e · Cited by 506
Case-control studies: research in reverse
Schulz, K. F., & Grimes, D. A. (2002) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(02)07605-5 · Cited by 487
The uncertainty principle and industry-sponsored research
Djulbegović, B., Lacevic, M., Cantor, A. B., Fields, K. K., Bennett, C. L., Adams, J. R., Kuderer, N. M., & Lyman, G. H. (2000) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(00)02605-2 · Cited by 485
Why Most Published Research Findings Are False
Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2019) · CHANCE · doi:10.1080/09332480.2019.1579573 · Cited by 474
Clinique médicale de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Paris
Trousseau, A. (1877) · Harvard Library (Harvard University) · Cited by 410
Demonstration of deductive meta-analysis: ethanol intake and risk of myocardial infarction
Maclure, M. (1993) · Epidemiologic Reviews · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a036124 · Cited by 397
Most published research findings are false-but a little replication goes a long way.
Moonesinghe, R., Khoury, M. J., & Janssens, A. C. J. W. (2007) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040028 · Cited by 341
Mortality in Current and Former Users of Clozapine
Walker, A. M., Lanza, L. L., Arellano, F. M., & Rothman, K. J. (1997) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/00001648-199710000-00010 · Cited by 338
Clinical Trial Registration — Looking Back and Moving Ahead
Laine, C. M., Horton, R. C., DeAngelis, C. D., Drazen, J. M., Frizelle, F., Godlee, F., Haug, C. J., Hébert, P. C., Kotzin, S., Marušić, A., et al. (2007) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejme078110 · Cited by 320
The need for randomization in the study of intended effects
Miettinen, O. S. (1983) · Statistics in Medicine · doi:10.1002/sim.4780020222 · Cited by 277
Majumdar, S. R., McAlister, F. A., Eurich, D. T., Padwal, R. S., & Marrie, T. J. (2006) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.38992.565972.7c · Cited by 270
Zornberg, G. L., & Jick, H. (2000) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(00)02784-7 · Cited by 269
Comparison of evidence on harms of medical interventions in randomized and nonrandomized studies
Papanikolaou, P. N. (2006) · Canadian Medical Association Journal · doi:10.1503/cmaj.050873 · Cited by 229
Detection, verification, and quantification of adverse drug reactions
Stricker, B. H., & Psaty, B. M. (2004) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7456.44 · Cited by 224
Statins and the Risk of Lung, Breast, and Colorectal Cancer in the Elderly
Setoguchi, S., Glynn, R. J., Avorn, J., Mogun, H., & Schneeweiß, S. (2006) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/circulationaha.106.650176 · Cited by 158
Why Most Published Research Findings Are False: Problems in the Analysis
Goodman, S., & Greenland, S. (2007) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040168 · Cited by 148
Statistical Methods and Scientific Inference.
Pyke, R., Fisher, R. A., Siegel, S., & Fraser, D. A. S. (1957) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.2307/2280908 · Cited by 143
Testing Hypotheses: Prediction and Prejudice
Lipton, P. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1103024 · Cited by 135
Laine, C. M., Horton, R. C., DeAngelis, C. D., Drazen, J. M., Frizelle, F., Godlee, F., Haug, C. J., Hébert, P. C., Kotzin, S., Marušić, A., et al. (2007) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.298.1.jed70037 · Cited by 135
CASE-CONTROL STUDIES IN THE EVALUATION OF DRUG-INDUCED ILLNESS
JICK, H., & VESSEY, M. P. (1978) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112502 · Cited by 123
Khoury, M. J., Little, J., GWINN, M. L., & Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2006) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyl253 · Cited by 119
Selective prescribing led to overestimation of the benefits of lipid-lowering drugs
Glynn, R. J., Schneeweiß, S., WANG, P., LEVIN, R., & Avorn, J. (2006) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2005.12.012 · Cited by 118
Medical journals and the shaping of medical knowledge*
Vandenbroucke, J. P. (1998) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(98)10208-8 · Cited by 106
Self-citationMultiple Comparisons, Explained
Goodman, S. N. (1998) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009531 · Cited by 103
A Collection of 56 Topics with Contradictory Results in Case-Control Research
Mayes, L. C., Horwitz, R. I., & FHNSTEIN, A. R. (1988) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/17.3.680 · Cited by 86
What is the best evidence for determining harms of medical treatment?
Vandenbroucke, J. P. (2006) · Canadian Medical Association Journal · doi:10.1503/cmaj.051484 · Cited by 83
Self-citationGenetic Loci Influencing Lung Function: A Genomewide Scan in the Framingham Study
Joost, O., Wilk, J. B., Cupples, L. A., Harmon, M., Shearman, A. M., Baldwin, C. T., O’Connor, G. T., Myers, R. H., & Gottlieb, D. J. (2002) · American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine · doi:10.1164/ajrccm.165.6.2102057 · Cited by 79
Alternative Medicine: A “Mirror Image” for Scientific Reasoning in Conventional Medicine
Vandenbroucke, J. P., & de Craen, A. J. M. (2001) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-135-7-200110020-00010 · Cited by 79
Self-citationDeconstructing the "Science Wars" by Reconstructing an Old Mold
Gould, S. J. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.287.5451.253 · Cited by 78
When Should Potentially False Research Findings Be Considered Acceptable?
Djulbegović, B., & Hozo, I. (2007) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040026 · Cited by 77
Gagnon, F. (2004) · The American Journal of Human Genetics · doi:10.1086/423739 · Cited by 72
Kumar, A., Soares, H. P., Wells, R. J., Clarke, M. J., Hozo, I., Bleyer, A., Reaman, G., Chalmers, I., & Djulbegović, B. (2005) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.38628.561123.7c · Cited by 70
Mendelian randomisation: a new spin or real progress?
Little, J., & Khoury, M. J. (2003) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(03)14396-6 · Cited by 70
Cohort studies: History of the method II. Retrospective cohort studies
Doll, R. (2001) · Sozial- und Präventivmedizin · doi:10.1007/bf01324251 · Cited by 63
Factor V Leiden and Fatal Pulmonary Embolism
Bertina, R. M., Holmes, Z., Spaargaren, C., van Krieken, J., Manten, B., Vandenbroucke, J. P., & Reitsma, P. H. (1998) · Thrombosis and Haemostasis · doi:10.1055/s-0037-1614935 · Cited by 59
Self-citationAlgorithmic randomness in empirical data
McAllister, J. W. (2003) · Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A · doi:10.1016/s0039-3681(03)00047-5 · Cited by 42
The lesser known effects of statins
Thomsen, R. W. (2006) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.39024.513218.be · Cited by 28
Antipsychotic drugs and venous thromboembolism
Thomassen, R., Vandenbroucke, J. P., & Rosendaal, F. R. (2000) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)74502-5 · Cited by 25
Self-citationEbrahim, S. B. J. (2004) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyh368 · Cited by 18
Greenland, S. (2007) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dym174 · Cited by 18
Bridging case-control studies and randomized trials
Rosendaal, F. R. (2001) · Trials · doi:10.1186/cvm-2-3-109 · Cited by 13
The Growth of Truth: As Illustrated in the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood
Osler, W. (1906) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm190611011551801 · Cited by 7
Bortezomib in Multiple Myeloma
Cecchi, M., Caccese, E., & Messori, A. (2005) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmc051943 · Cited by 6
The Recognition of New Kinds of Occupational Toxicity
Lee, J. A. H., Vaughan, T. L., Diehr, P. H., & Haertle, R. A. (1985) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-9445-1_19 · Cited by 4
Regional Focus on GM Crop Regulation
Okusu, H., & Watanabe, K. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.308.5727.1409b · Cited by 4
Brush, S. G. (2005) · PubMed · Cited by 1
Research works printed but not linked: 27
- Laine, 2007, N Engl J Med, 356, 2734
- Vandenbroucke, 1994, Lancet, 344, 1453
- Vandenbroucke, 2001, N Engl J Med, 344, 1527
- Vandenbroucke, 2005, N Engl J Med, 353, 1297
- Glasziou, 2007, BMJ, 334, 349
- Vandenbroucke, 2001, Ann Intern Med, 134, 330
- Vandenbroucke, 2004, Lancet, 363, 1728
- Schulz, 2002, Lancet, 359, 614
- Miettinen, 1983, Stat Med, 2, 267
- Vandenbroucke, 2006, CMAJ, 174, 645
- Papanikolaou, 2006, CMAJ, 174, 635
- Jick, 1978, Am J Epidemiol, 107, 1
- Djulbegovic, 2000, Lancet, 356, 635
- Kumar, 2005, BMJ, 331, 1295
- Rothman, 1990, Epidemiology, 1, 43
- Greenland, 2007, Int J Epidemiol, 36, 944
- Lipton, 2005, Science, 307, 219
- Brush, 2005, Science, 308, 1409
- Rothwell, 2005, Lancet, 365, 176
- Joost, 2002, Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 165, 795
- Goodman, 1998, Am J Epidemiol, 147, 807
- Moonesinghe, 2007, PLoS Med, 4, e28
- Khoury, 2007, Int J Epidemiol, 36, 439
- Maclure, 1993, Epidemiol Rev, 15, 328
- Mayes, 1988, Int J Epidemiol, 17, 680
- Schulz, 2002, Lancet, 359, 431
- Gould, 2000, Science, 287, 253
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Benchimol, E. I., Smeeth, L., Guttmann, A., Harron, K., Moher, D., Petersen, I., Sørensen, H. T., von Elm, E., Langan, S. M., & RECORD Working Committee (2015) · PLOS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001885 · Cited by 5,749
Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses
Vandenberg, L. N., Colborn, T., Hayes, T. B., Heindel, J. J., Jacobs, D. R., Lee, D.-H., Shioda, T., Soto, A. M., vom Saal, F. S., Welshons, W. V., et al. (2012) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/er.2011-1050 · Cited by 3,209
Interpretation of the evidence for the efficacy and safety of statin therapy
Collins, R., Reith, C., Emberson, J., Armitage, J., Baigent, C., Blackwell, L., Blumenthal, R., Danesh, J., Smith, G. D., DeMets, D., et al. (2016) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31357-5 · Cited by 1,857
Why Most Discovered True Associations Are Inflated
Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2008) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/ede.0b013e31818131e7 · Cited by 1,495
Caspi, A., Hariri, A. R., Holmes, A., Uher, R., & Moffitt, T. E. (2010) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.09101452 · Cited by 1,346
Metadata
- Authors
- Vandenbroucke, J. P.
- Affiliations
- Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Vandenbroucke, Jan P
- ORCID
- Vandenbroucke, Jan P
- Venue
- PLoS Medicine
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2008-03-11
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e67
- ISSN
- 1549-1277 (ISSN-L)
- 1549-1676
- PMC
- PMC2265762
- OpenAlex
- W2090226269
- Cited by
- 416
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 31
- FWCI
- 30.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Advanced Causal Inference Techniques
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Methodologies in Health Research and Practice
- Keywords
- observational studies, randomised trials, medical sciences, intervention evaluation, philosophy of medicine
- MeSH terms
- Contraceptives, Oral, Evaluation Studies as Topic, Factor V, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Prospective Studies, Retrospective Studies, Case-Control Studies, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Biomedical Research, Venous Thromboembolism
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

