ArticleBMJ open science2020
Publication rate in preclinical research: a plea for preregistration.
Article in BMJ open science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 4 of them syntheses 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
29 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Recommendations for robust and reproducible preclinical research in personalised medicine.BMC medicine · 2023Guideline
- The optimal transplantation strategy of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in spinal cord injury: a systematic review and network meta-analysis based on animal studies.Stem cell research & therapy · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Enteral Feeding Interventions in the Prevention of Necrotizing Enterocolitis: A Systematic Review of Experimental and Clinical Studies.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- A survey of researchers' attitudes to preregistration in animal research reveals multiple perceived barriers to adoption.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Impact of Antenatal Corticosteroids on Brain Function and Underlying Mechanisms in Preclinical Studies: Protocol for a Systematic Review.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- How Transparent and Reproducible Are Studies That Use Animal Models of Opioid Addiction?Addiction biology · 2025Article
- Preclinical Evidence for the Use of Brexpiprazole + Antidepressant Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Review
- The PERMIT guidelines for designing and implementing all stages of personalised medicine research.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A call to implement preclinical study registration in animal ethics review.PLoS biology · 2023Article
- The pharmacological bases for repurposing statins in depression: a review of mechanistic studies.Translational psychiatry · 2023Review
- Disease Animal Models for Cancer Research.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2023Article
- A guide to open science practices for animal research.PLoS biology · 2022Article
- Ten simple rules for good research practice.PLoS computational biology · 2022Article
- Declaration of common standards for the preregistration of animal research-speeding up the scientific progress.PNAS nexus · 2022Article
- Measurement challenges and causes of incomplete results reporting of biomedical animal studies: Results from an interview study.PloS one · 2022Article
- The dark side of the animal experiments.Joint diseases and related surgery · 2022Review
- Targeting Impaired Nutrient Sensing via the Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Pathway With Therapeutic Compounds to Prevent or Treat Dementia: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in aging · 2022Review
- Preregistration of animal research protocols: development and 3-year overview of preclinicaltrials.eu.BMJ open science · 2022Review
- Can Any Drug Be Repurposed for Cancer Treatment? A Systematic Assessment of the Scientific Literature.Cancers · 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
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe ultimate goal of biomedical research is the development of new treatment options for patients. Animal models are used if questions cannot be addressed otherwise. Currently, it is widely believed that a large fraction of performed studies are never published, but there are no data that directly address this question.
methodsWe have tracked a selection of animal study protocols approved in the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, to assess whether these have led to a publication with a follow-up period of 7 years.
resultsWe found that 60% of all animal study protocols led to at least one publication (full text or abstract). A total of 5590 animals were used in these studies, of which 26% was reported in the resulting publications.
conclusionsThe data presented here underline the need for preclinical preregistration, in view of the risk of reporting and publication bias in preclinical research. We plea that all animal study protocols should be prospectively registered on an online, accessible platform to increase transparency and data sharing. To facilitate this, we have developed a platform dedicated to animal study protocol registration: www.preclinicaltrials.eu.
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.