Extent of Non-Publication in Cohorts of Studies Approved by Research Ethics Committees or Included in Trial Registries

Schmucker, Christine; Schell, Lisa K.; Portalupi, Susan; Oeller, Patrick; Cabrera, Laura; Bassler, Dirk; Schwarzer, Guido; Scherer, Roberta W.; Antes, Gerd; von Elm, Erik; Meerpohl, Joerg J.; on behalf of the OPEN consortium

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114023

Extent of Non-Publication in Cohorts of Studies Approved by Research Ethics Committees or Included in Trial Registries

Background The synthesis of published research in systematic reviews is essential when providing evidence to inform clinical and health policy decision-making. However, the validity of systematic reviews is threatened if journal publications represent a biased selection of all studies that have b…