ArticlePloS one2021
Medical disinformation and the unviable nature of COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
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
34 citing papers in PubMed, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring biologically-based complementary and alternative medicine use among Irish cancer survivors: findings from a national survey.The oncologist · 2026Article
- Lessons from community engagement to improve COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment in Cochabamba, Bolivia.Global health action · 2024Article
- Alternative Health and Conventional Medicine Discourse About Cancer on TikTok: Computer Vision Analysis of TikTok Videos.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Wellness Influencer Responses to COVID-19 Vaccines on Social Media: A Longitudinal Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Observational
- YouTube and COVID-19 vaccines: A mini scoping review.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2023Article
- Decrease in Overall Vaccine Hesitancy in College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Vaccines · 2023Article
- The Right to Refuse: Understanding Healthcare Providers' Perspectives on Patient Autonomy in Emergency Care.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine Hesitancy: 2020 California Health Interview Survey.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
- Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic across Africa: Current Status of Vaccinations and Implications for the Future.Vaccines · 2022Article
- Pseudoscience and fraudulent products for COVID-19 management.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Review
- COVID-19 and the eye: alternative facts The 2022 Bowman Club, David L. Easty lecture.BMJ open ophthalmology · 2022Review
- Conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 in Nigeria: Implications for vaccine demand generation communications.Vaccine · 2022Article
- Misinformation can prevent the suppression of epidemics.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain.PloS one · 2022Article
- Strategies to address conspiracy beliefs and misinformation on COVID-19 in South Africa: A narrative literature review.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2022Review
- The new normal: Covid-19 risk perceptions and support for continuing restrictions past vaccinations.PloS one · 2022Article
- A content analysis of 32 years of Shark Week documentaries.PloS one · 2022Article
- "Frontiers in health services · 2022Article
- Assessing the validity of digital health literacy instrument for secondary school students in Ghana: The polychoric factor analytic approach.Frontiers in digital health · 2022Article
- The new normal? Redaction bias in biomedical science.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
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 at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic has seen a marked rise in medical disinformation across social media. A variety of claims have garnered considerable traction, including the assertion that COVID is a hoax or deliberately manufactured, that 5G frequency radiation causes coronavirus, and that the pandemic is a ruse by big pharmaceutical companies to profiteer off a vaccine. An estimated 30% of some populations subscribe some form of COVID medico-scientific conspiracy narratives, with detrimental impacts for themselves and others. Consequently, exposing the lack of veracity of these claims is of considerable importance. Previous work has demonstrated that historical medical and scientific conspiracies are highly unlikely to be sustainable. In this article, an expanded model for a hypothetical en masse COVID conspiracy is derived. Analysis suggests that even under ideal circumstances for conspirators, commonly encountered conspiratorial claims are highly unlikely to endure, and would quickly be exposed. This work also explores the spectrum of medico-scientific acceptance, motivations behind propagation of falsehoods, and the urgent need for the medical and scientific community to anticipate and counter the emergence of falsehoods.
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.