Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16974018›Full record

ReviewBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2006

The case of the misleading funnel plot.

Joseph Lau, John P A Ioannidis, Norma Terrin, Christopher H Schmid, Ingram Olkin

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 713 papers, 157 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
713citing papers in PubMed, 157 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

713 citing papers in PubMed, 157 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  3. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome and adverse outcomes in acute intracerebral hemorrhage: a meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
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653 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Joseph LauInstitute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111, USA. jlau1@tufts-nemc.org
John P A Ioannidis
Norma Terrin
Christopher H Schmid
Ingram Olkin

Funding

[unreadable]DEALING WITH PUBLICATION BIAS IN META-ANALYSISR01HS010254 · AHRQ · TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER · PI TERRIN, NORMA C · 1999 to 2004
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AHRQ HHS R01 HS10254
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

PubMed holds no abstract for this paper.

Indexed as

Evidence-Based MedicineMeta-Analysis as TopicBiasSensitivity and SpecificityStatistics as Topic

Identifiers

PMID16974018
PMCPMC1570006

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.