Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30664834›Full record

ArticleResearch synthesis methods2019

Graphical augmentations to sample-size-based funnel plot in meta-analysis.

Lifeng Lin

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Research synthesis methods, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 19 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed, 19 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

28 citing papers in PubMed, 19 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Efficacy of Multiple Interventions for Moderate to Large Traumatic Tympanic Membrane Perforations: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery · 2026
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  19. Hybrid test for publication bias in meta-analysis.Statistical methods in medical research · 2020
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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

1 author.

Lifeng LinDepartment of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3562-9816

Funding

Robust statistical methods and software for meta-analysis with outlying studiesR03HS024743 · AHRQ · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI CHU, HAITAO · 2017 to 2017
$98k
AHRQ HHS R03 HS024743
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Assessing publication bias is a critical procedure in meta-analyses for rating the synthesized overall evidence. Because statistical tests for publication bias are usually not powerful and only give P values that inform either the presence or absence of the bias, examining the asymmetry of funnel plots has been popular to investigate potentially missing studies and the direction of the bias. Most funnel plots present treatment effects against their standard errors, and the contours depicting studies' significance levels have been used in the plots to distinguish publication bias from other factors (such as heterogeneity and subgroup effects) that may cause the plots' asymmetry. However, treatment effects and their standard errors are frequently associated even if no publication bias exists (eg, both variables depend on the four data cells in a 2 × 2 table for the odds ratio), so standard-error-based funnel plots may lead to false positive conclusions when such association may not be negligible. In addition, the missingness of studies may relate to their sample sizes besides P values (which are partly determined by standard errors); studies with more samples are more likely published. Therefore, funnel plots based on sample sizes can be an alternative tool. However, the contours for standard-error-based funnel plots cannot be directly applied to sample-size-based ones. This article introduces contours for sample-size-based funnel plots of various effect sizes, which may help meta-analysts properly interpret such plots' asymmetry. We provide five examples to illustrate the use of the proposed contours.

Indexed as

Computer GraphicsMeta-Analysis as TopicSample SizeAlgorithmsAnxietyBreast NeoplasmsFemaleHumansIntensive Care UnitsNeoplasm MetastasisOdds RatioPublication BiasReproducibility of ResultsResearch DesignRiskStatistics as Topicfunnel plotmeta-analysispublication biassample sizestandard error

Identifiers

PMID30664834
PMCPMC6642847

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.