Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42496359›Full record

ArticleJournal of market access & health policy2026

The EU-Joint Clinical Assessment Guidance Documents Fail to Address the Significance of Systematic Literature Reviews and Deviate from the State of the Art.

Beata Smela, Mondher Toumi, Samuel Aballéa, Steven Simoens, Laurent Boyer, Bruno Falissard, Renato Bernardini, Stefano Capri, Pascal Auquier

Abstract readComment
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of market access & health policy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

9 authors.

Beata SmelaClever-Access, 30-415 Cracow, Poland.ORCID 0000-0003-4896-9083
Mondher ToumiHealth Services Research and Quality of Life Center, Aix-Marseille University, 13385 Marseille, France.
Samuel AballéaInovintell, Mathenesserlaan 447B, 3023 GJ Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-6037-2039
Steven SimoensDepartment of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Catholic University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-9512-2005
Laurent BoyerHealth Services Research and Quality of Life Center, Aix-Marseille University, 13385 Marseille, France.ORCID 0000-0003-1229-6622
Bruno FalissardCentre de Recherche en Epidemiologie et Santé des Populations, CESP, INSERM U1018, Université Paris-Saclay, 94800 Villejuif, France.
Renato BernardiniDepartment of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy.
Stefano CapriSchool of Economics and Management, Cattaneo-LIUC University, 21053 Castellanza, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4633-4420
Pascal AuquierHealth Services Research and Quality of Life Center, Aix-Marseille University, 13385 Marseille, France.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This paper summarizes an analysis of the Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) subgroup's recommendations for systematic literature reviews (SLRs). While the JCA offers clear guidance on study classification, exclusion criteria reporting, and PRISMA diagram use, several of its recommendations diverge from established best practices in evidence-based medicine (EBM). A comparison with recognized guidelines, such as those from Cochrane and EUnetHTA, reveals that the JCA guidance may lack reliability, comprehensiveness, and reproducibility. Aligning JCA recommendations with gold standards in SLR methodology would address these shortcomings and enhance methodological rigor.

Indexed as

EU-HTAHealth Technology AssessmentJoint Clinical AssessmentmethodologyPICOsystematic literature review

Identifiers

PMID42496359
PMCPMC13397900

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.