Bias in the research literature and conflict of interest: an issue for publishers, editors, reviewers and authors, and it is not just about the money.

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.

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.

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed.

1. A literature review of non-financial conflicts of interest in healthcare research and publication.BMC medical ethics · 2025
   Review
2. Invited commentary-WHO Classification of Tumours: How should tumors be classified? Expert consensus, systematic reviews or both?International journal of cancer · 2020
   Article
3. Perspective: Standards for Research and Reporting on Low-Energy ("Artificial") Sweeteners.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020
   Article
4. Symptomatic Tarlov cysts are often overlooked: ten reasons why-a narrative review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019
   Review
5. Improving transparency and scientific rigor in academic publishing.Journal of neuroscience research · 2019
   Article
6. Improving transparency and scientific rigor in academic publishing.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2019
   Article
7. Improving transparency and scientific rigor in academic publishing.Brain and behavior · 2019
   Article
8. White paper: statement on conflicts of interest.Intensive care medicine · 2018
   Article
9. Conflicts of interest in nutritional sciences: The forgotten bias in meta-analysis.World journal of methodology · 2015
   Article
10. Addressing conflicts of interest in the research paper: a societal demand in contemporary science?Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2013
    Article
11. Criminals in the Citadel and Deceit all along the Watchtower: Irresponsibility, Fraud, and Complicity in the Search for Scientific Truth.Mens sana monographs · 2012
    Article
12. My 21 years with the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, with observations on editors, editorial boards, authors and reviewers.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN · 2011
    Article
13. Bioanalytical inaccuracy: a threat to the integrity and efficiency of research.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN · 2010
    Article

Corrections and comments

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

Authors and funding

1 author.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

Abstract

PubMed holds no abstract for this paper.

Indexed as