Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32768390›Full record

ReviewThe Lancet. Infectious diseases2020

STROBE-metagenomics: a STROBE extension statement to guide the reporting of metagenomics studies.

Tehmina Bharucha, Clarissa Oeser, Francois Balloux, Julianne R Brown, Ellen C Carbo, Andre Charlett, Charles Y Chiu, Eric C J Claas, Marcus C de Goffau, Jutte J C de Vries and 17 more

Erratum issuedAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 42 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed, 2 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

42 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. The gastrointestinal microbiome in critical illness: A Clinician's guide to mechanisms, emerging tools, and therapeutic questions.Critical care and resuscitation : journal of the Australasian Academy of Critical Care Medicine · 2025
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Clinical metagenomics: ethical issues.Journal of medical microbiology · 2025
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

27 authors.

Tehmina BharuchaDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Lao-Oxford-Mahosot Hospital-Wellcome Trust Research Unit, Microbiology Laboratory, Mahosot Hospital, Vientiane, Laos. Electronic address: t.bharucha@doctors.org.uk.
Clarissa OeserCentre for Molecular Epidemiology and Translational Research, University College London, London, UK.
Francois BallouxUCL Genetics Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Julianne R BrownMicrobiology, Virology and Infection Prevention and Control, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK.
Ellen C CarboDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Andre CharlettStatistics, Modelling and Economics Department, Public Health England, London, UK.
Charles Y ChiuDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Eric C J ClaasDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Marcus C de GoffauWellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK; Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Jutte J C de VriesDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Marc EloitPathogen Discovery Laboratory, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Susan HopkinsHealthcare-Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance, Public Health England, London, UK; Infectious Diseases Unit, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK.
Jim F HuggettNational Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, UK; School of Biosciences & Medicine, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Duncan MacCannellOffice of Advanced Molecular Detection, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Sofia MorfopoulouDivision of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, UK.
Avindra NathSection of Infections of the Nervous System, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Denise M O'SullivanNational Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, UK.
Lauren B ReomaSection of Infections of the Nervous System, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Liam P ShawNuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Igor SidorovDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Patricia J SimnerDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Le Van TanEmerging Infections Group, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
Emma C ThomsonMRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Lucy van DorpUCL Genetics Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Michael R WilsonWeill Institute for Neurosciences and Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Judith BreuerDivision of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, UK; Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK.
Nigel FieldCentre for Molecular Epidemiology and Translational Research, University College London, London, UK.

Funding

Neuropathogenesis of Retroviral InfectionsZIANS003130 · NINDS · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE · PI NATH, AVINDRA · 2011 to 2025
$73.7M
Next-Generation Diagnostics for Acute EncephalitisK08NS096117 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI WILSON, MICHAEL R · 2017 to 2021
$999k
NINDS NIH HHS K08 NS096117NINDS NIH HHS NS003130Wellcome Trust 204904/Z/16/ZWellcome Trust 206478/Z/17/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The term metagenomics refers to the use of sequencing methods to simultaneously identify genomic material from all organisms present in a sample, with the advantage of greater taxonomic resolution than culture or other methods. Applications include pathogen detection and discovery, species characterisation, antimicrobial resistance detection, virulence profiling, and study of the microbiome and microecological factors affecting health. However, metagenomics involves complex and multistep processes and there are important technical and methodological challenges that require careful consideration to support valid inference. We co-ordinated a multidisciplinary, international expert group to establish reporting guidelines that address specimen processing, nucleic acid extraction, sequencing platforms, bioinformatics considerations, quality assurance, limits of detection, power and sample size, confirmatory testing, causality criteria, cost, and ethical issues. The guidance recognises that metagenomics research requires pragmatism and caution in interpretation, and that this field is rapidly evolving.

Indexed as

Computational BiologyHumansMetagenomicsMolecular EpidemiologyResearch Design

Identifiers

PMID32768390
PMCPMC7406238

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.