Abstract
Evaluating the quality of published studies and their outcomes is much more complex than is typically imagined. Lack of uniformity makes it difficult for readers to properly assess the validity of empirical findings in the biomedical literature. Many guidelines have been developed to help academic faculty in reporting study findings and understanding the adequacy of the study design, conduct, analysis, and interpretation. Dedicated efforts to apply these guidelines will bring benefit to individual health and society at large.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D, The CONSORT Group. CONSORT 2010 Statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomized trials. PLoS Med. 2010;7(3):e1000251.
von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, Pocock SJ, Gøtzsche PC, Vandenbroucke JP. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. Ann Intern Med. 2007;147:573–7.
Deeks JJ, Dinnes J, D’Amico R, Sowden AJ, Sakarovitch C, Song F, et al. Evaluating non-randomised intervention studies. Health Technol Assess. 2003;7:iii-173.
Daly J, Willis K, Small R, Green J, Welch N, Kealy M, Huges E. A hierarchy of evidence for assessing qualitative health research. J Clin Epidemiol. 2007;60:43–9.
Liberati A, Altman DG, Tetzlaff J, Mulrow C, Goetzsche PC, et al. The PRISMA Statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. PLoS Med. 2009;6(7):e1000100.
Moher D, Simera I, Schulz KF, Hoey J, Altman DG. Helping editors, peer reviewers and authors improve the clarity, completeness and transparency of reporting health research. Biomed Cent Med. 2008;6:13.
Pildal J, Hrobjartsson A, Jorgensen KJ, Hilden J, Altman DG, Gotzsche PC. Impact of allocation concealment on conclusions drawn from meta-analyses of randomized trials. Int J Epidemiol. 2007;36:847–57.
Altman DG. The scandal of poor medical research: we need less research, better research, and research done for the right reasons. Br Med J. 1994;308:283–4.
Altman DG. Poor-quality medical research: what can journals do? J Am Med Assoc. 2002;287(21):2765–7.
Fernandez-Taylor S, Hyun JK, Reeder RN, Harris AHS. Common statistical and research design problems in manuscripts submitted to high-impact medical journals. Biomed Cent Res Notes. 2011;4:304.
Ioannidis JP. Why most discovered published research findings are false. PLoS Med. 2005;2:e124.
Ioannidis JP. Why most discovered true associations are inflated. Epidemiology. 2008;19:640–8.
Ioannidis JP, Karassa F. The need to consider the wider agenda in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Br Med J. 2010;341:762–5.
Kaul S, Diamond GA. Trial and error. How to avoid commonly encountered limitations of published clinical trials. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;55:415–27.
Stone GW, Pocock SJ. Randomized trials, statistics, and clinical inference. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;55:428–31.
Jefferson T, Rudin M, Folse SB, Davidoff F. Editorial peer review for improving the quality of reports of biomedical studies. The Cochrane Library, The Cochrane Collaboration, 2008, Issue 2. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Harris AHS, Reeder R, Hyun JK. Common statistical and research design problems in manuscripts submitted to high impact psychiatry journals: what editors and reviewers want authors to know. J Psychiatr Res. 2009;43:1231–4.
Lang T. Twenty statistical errors even YOU can find in biomedical research articles. Croat Med J. 2004;45(4):361–70.
Malek MH, Berger DE, Coburn JW. On the inappropriateness of stepwise regression analysis for model building and testing. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2007;101:263–4.
Stasak AM, Aaman Q, Pfeiffer KP, Gobel G, Ulmer H. Statistical errors in medical research – review of common pitfalls. Swiss Med Wkly. 2007;137:44–9.
Schatz P, Jay KA, McComb J, McLaughlin JR. Misuse of statistical tests in Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology publications. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2005;20:1053–9.
Ziliak ST, McCloskey DN. The cult of statistical significance: how the standard error costs us jobs, justice, and lives. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press; 2008.
Plint AC, Moher D, Morrison A, Schulz K, Altman DG, Hill C, Gaboury I. Does the CONSORT checklist improve the quality of reports of randomised controlled trials? A systematic review. Med J Aust. 2006;185(5):263–7. Review.
Woolf SH. The meaning of translational research and why it matters. J Am Med Assoc. 2008;299(2):211–3.
Glasziou P, Vandenbroucke J, Chalmers I. Assessing the quality of research. Br Med J. 2004;328:39–41.
Additional Resources
Bossuyt PM, Reitsma JB, Bruns DE, Gatsonis CA, Glasziou PP, Irwig LM, et al. Towards complete and accurate reporting of studies of diagnostic accuracy: the STARD initiative. Ann Intern Med. 2003;138:40–4.
Cohen DJ, Crabtree BF. Evaluative criteria for qualitative research in health care: controversies and recommendations. Ann Fam Med. 2008;6(4):331–9.
Long T, Johnson M. Rigor, reliability and validity in qualitative research. Clin Eff Nurs. 2000;4:30–7.
Malterud K. Qualitative research: standards, challenges, and guidelines. Lancet. 2001;358:483–8.
Moher D, Hopewell S, Schulz KF, Montori V, Gøtzsche PC, et al. CONSORT 2010 Explanation and elaboration: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. BMJ. 2010;340:c869.
Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG. The PRISMA Group preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PLoS Med. 2009;6(7):e1000097.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Warner, T.D. (2013). How to Evaluate Biomedical Research Publications Rigorously. In: Roberts, L. (eds) The Academic Medicine Handbook. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5693-3_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5693-3_28
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5692-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5693-3
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)