Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17974687›Full record

ReviewBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2007

Uncertainty in heterogeneity estimates in meta-analyses.

John P A Ioannidis, Nikolaos A Patsopoulos, Evangelos Evangelou

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 572 papers, 131 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
572citing papers in PubMed, 131 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

572 citing papers in PubMed, 131 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  9. Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity-related cancer Risk and Survival: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews With Meta-analysis of Observational Studies.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
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  11. Association of Serum ADA Levels in Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
    Pooled it
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  13. Burden ofBMJ global health · 2026
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512 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

3 authors.

John P A IoannidisClinical Trials and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina 45110, Greece. jioannid@cc.uoi.gr
Nikolaos A Patsopoulos
Evangelos Evangelou

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

PubMed holds no abstract for this paper.

Indexed as

Meta-Analysis as TopicUncertaintyData Interpretation, Statistical

Identifiers

PMID17974687
PMCPMC2048840

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.