2002), and the likelihood that the research will be cited ( Gøtzsche 1987 Ravnskov 1992 Ravnskov 1995 Kjaergaard and Gluud 2002 Schmidt and Gøtzsche 2005 Nieminen et al. 2007a), the language in which they are published (Egger et al. They can also influence the speed at which results are reported (Stern and Simes 1997 Dickersin et al.
2009), and if so, in which forms (Scherer et al. The nature and direction of research results can influence whether or not research is reported at all (Hopewell et al. 2009), while results that are regarded as exciting or statistically significant (‘positive’) tend to be over-reported (Rochon et al. Research results that are not statistically significant (‘negative’) tend to be under-reported (Hopewell et al. ‘Reporting bias’ occurs when the nature and direction of the results of research influences their dissemination ( Explanatory essay). How did this problem come to be recognised and investigated, and what steps are being taken today to deal with it? Evidence of biased reporting of studies In brief, failure to report research findings is not only unscientific but also unethical (Chalmers 1985 1990 Antes and Chalmers 2003 World Medical Association 2008). Every year an estimated 12,000 clinical trials which should have been fully reported are not, wasting just under a million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually – the carbon emission equivalent of about 800,000 round trip flights between London and New York (Chalmers and Glasziou 2009b). Moreover, failure to publish is simply a waste of precious research and other resources (Chalmers and Glasziou 2009a). Participants in clinical research are usually assured that their involvement will contribute to knowledge but this does not happen if the research is not reported publicly and accessibly. Furthermore, planners of new research are unable to benefit from all relevant past research.įailure to publish is also unethical. 2008) and suppression of harmful effects of treatments ( Explanatory essay). Biased reporting of clinical research can result in overestimates of beneficial effects (Sterne et al. Reliance on an incomplete evidence base for decision-making can lead to imprecise or incorrect conclusions about an intervention’s effects. In the field of clinical research, incomplete and biased reporting has resulted in patients suffering and dying unnecessarily ( Cowley et al.
Under-reporting of the results of research in any field of scientific enquiry is scientific misconduct because it delays discovery and understanding. Why is incomplete reporting of research a problem
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