Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28450467›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2017

Quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs published in emergency medicine journals: a protocol for a systematic survey of the literature.

Federico Germini, Maura Marcucci, Marta Fedele, Maria Giulia Galli, Lawrence Mbuagbaw, Valentina Salvatori, Giacomo Veronese, Andrew Worster, Lehana Thabane

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Observational
  2. Article
  3. Article
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

9 authors.

Federico GerminiDepartment of Emergency, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda - Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-0802-3616
Maura MarcucciGeriatric Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda - Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy.
Marta FedeleDepartment of Emergency, Area Nord, Azienda Unita Sanitaria Locale di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Maria Giulia GalliDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy.
Lawrence MbuagbawDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Valentina SalvatoriGeneral Practitioner Course, Regione Marche - Servizio Sanità, Ancona, Italy.
Giacomo VeroneseDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Ospedale Niguarda Ca' Granda, Milano, Italy.
Andrew WorsterDivision of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Lehana ThabaneDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe quality of reporting of abstracts of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in major general medical journals and in some category-specific journals was shown to be poor before the publication of the ConsolidatedStandards of ReportingTrials (CONSORT) extension for abstracts in 2008, and an improvement in the quality of reporting of abstracts was observed after its publication. The effect of the publication of the CONSORT extension for abstracts on the quality of reporting of RCTs in emergency medicine journals has not been studied. In this paper, we present the protocol of a systematic survey of the literature, aimed at assessing the quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs published in emergency medicine journals and at evaluating the effect of the publication of the CONSORT extension for abstracts on the quality of reporting. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Medline database will be searched for RCTs published in the years 2005-2007 and 2014-2015 in the top 10 emergency medicine journals, according to their impact factor. Candidate studies will be screened for inclusion in the review. Exclusion criteria will be the following: the abstract is not available, they are published only as abstracts, still recruiting, or duplicate publications. The study outcomes will be the overall quality of reporting (number of items reported) according to the CONSORT extension and the compliance with its individual items. Two independent reviewers will screen each article for inclusion and will extract data on the CONSORT items and on other variables, which can possibly affect the quality of reporting. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This is a library-based study and therefore exempt from research ethics board review. The review results will be disseminated through abstract submission to conferences and publication in a peer-reviewed biomedical journal.

Indexed as

Emergency MedicinePublicationsRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicResearch ReportHumansSystematic Reviews as TopicAbstractAccident & emergency medicineQuality of reportingResearch methodologyStatistics &research methods

Identifiers

PMID28450467
PMCPMC5566942

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.