How do we increase the trustworthiness of medical publications?

Ben W. Mol*, John P.A. Ioannidis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Trustworthiness of medical publications can depend on either good faith or verifiable data. Most medical publications to date have been advertisements or some form of scholarly boasting. The investigators practically announce to the world that they performed some research. In good faith, other scientists and practitioners of medicine, guideline developers, and patients are asked to take these advertisements seriously, buy into them, and make important (occasionally life-or-death) decisions on the basis of what they say. However, the raw data are usually not made available. Other crucial components that would allow to verify the research, including the code, detailed protocols, and statistical analysis plans, are also rarely shared—or may not exist. Under such circumstances, is faith misplaced when one accepts that the work presented is real?
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)412-414
Number of pages3
JournalFertility and Sterility
Volume120
Issue number3.1
Early online date22 Aug 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
B.W.M. is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator grant (GNT1176437); reports consulting fees from ObsEva, Merck KGaA, and Merck; and reports travel support from Merck KGaA outside the submitted work. J.P.A.I. has nothing to disclose.

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