ArticleJournal of paediatrics and child health2020
Fake news and fake research: Why meta-research matters more than ever.
Article in Journal of paediatrics and child health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Study Design Complexity and Participant Completion in Dietary Trials for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review and Metaresearch Study.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Research is in a crisis of credibility, and this is to the peril of all paediatricians. Billions of dollars are being wasted each year because research is not planned, badly conducted or poorly reported, and this is on a background of rapidly reducing research budgets. How can paediatricians, families and patients make informed treatment choices if the evidence base is absent or not trustworthy? This article discusses why meta-research now matters more than ever, how it can help solve this crisis of credibility and how this should lead to more efficient and effective clinical care. The field of meta-research or research-on-research is the ultimate big picture approach to identifying and solving issues of bias, error, misconduct and waste in research. Meta-researchers value authenticity over aesthetics and quality over quantity. The utility of meta-research does not rely on accusations or critical assessments of individual research, but through highlighting where and how the scientific method and research standards across all fields can be improved. Meta-researchers study, analyse and critique the research pathway, focusing on elements such as methods (how to conduct), evaluation (how to test), reporting (how to communicate), reproducibility (how to verify) and incentives (how to reward). In the current climate it is now more critical than ever that we make use of meta-research and prioritise high-quality high-impact research, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.