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Mogull SA. Accuracy of cited "facts" in medical research articles: A review of study methodology and recalculation of quotation error rate. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0184727. [PMID: 28910404 PMCID: PMC5599002 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2017] [Accepted: 08/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous reviews estimated that approximately 20 to 25% of assertions cited from original research articles, or "facts," are inaccurately quoted in the medical literature. These reviews noted that the original studies were dissimilar and only began to compare the methods of the original studies. The aim of this review is to examine the methods of the original studies and provide a more specific rate of incorrectly cited assertions, or quotation errors, in original research articles published in medical journals. Additionally, the estimate of quotation errors calculated here is based on the ratio of quotation errors to quotations examined (a percent) rather than the more prevalent and weighted metric of quotation errors to the references selected. Overall, this resulted in a lower estimate of the quotation error rate in original medical research articles. A total of 15 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the primary quantitative analysis. Quotation errors were divided into two categories: content ("factual") or source (improper indirect citation) errors. Content errors were further subdivided into major and minor errors depending on the degree that the assertion differed from the original source. The rate of quotation errors recalculated here is 14.5% (10.5% to 18.6% at a 95% confidence interval). These content errors are predominantly, 64.8% (56.1% to 73.5% at a 95% confidence interval), major errors or cited assertions in which the referenced source either fails to substantiate, is unrelated to, or contradicts the assertion. Minor errors, which are an oversimplification, overgeneralization, or trivial inaccuracies, are 35.2% (26.5% to 43.9% at a 95% confidence interval). Additionally, improper secondary (or indirect) citations, which are distinguished from calculations of quotation accuracy, occur at a rate of 10.4% (3.4% to 17.5% at a 95% confidence interval).
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott A. Mogull
- Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, United States of America
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Fiocchi A, Burks W, Bahna SL, Bielory L, Boyle RJ, Cocco R, Dreborg S, Goodman R, Kuitunen M, Haahtela T, Heine RG, Lack G, Osborn DA, Sampson H, Tannock GW, Lee BW. Clinical Use of Probiotics in Pediatric Allergy (CUPPA): A World Allergy Organization Position Paper. World Allergy Organ J 2012; 5:148-67. [PMID: 23282383 PMCID: PMC3651185 DOI: 10.1097/wox.0b013e3182784ee0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND : Probiotic administration has been proposed for the prevention and treatment of specific allergic manifestations such as eczema, rhinitis, gastrointestinal allergy, food allergy, and asthma. However, published statements and scientific opinions disagree about the clinical usefulness. OBJECTIVE : A World Allergy Organization Special Committee on Food Allergy and Nutrition review of the evidence regarding the use of probiotics for the prevention and treatment of allergy. METHODS : A qualitative and narrative review of the literature on probiotic treatment of allergic disease was carried out to address the diversity and variable quality of relevant studies. This variability precluded systematization, and an expert panel group discussion method was used to evaluate the literature. In the absence of systematic reviews of treatment, meta-analyses of prevention studies were used to provide data in support of probiotic applications. RESULTS : Despite the plethora of literature, probiotic research is still in its infancy. There is a need for basic microbiology research on the resident human microbiota. Mechanistic studies from biology, immunology, and genetics are needed before we can claim to harness the potential of immune modulatory effects of microbiota. Meanwhile, clinicians must take a step back and try to link disease state with alterations of the microbiota through well-controlled long-term studies to identify clinical indications. CONCLUSIONS : Probiotics do not have an established role in the prevention or treatment of allergy. No single probiotic supplement or class of supplements has been demonstrated to efficiently influence the course of any allergic manifestation or long-term disease or to be sufficient to do so. Further epidemiologic, immunologic, microbiologic, genetic, and clinical studies are necessary to determine whether probiotic supplements will be useful in preventing allergy. Until then, supplementation with probiotics remains empirical in allergy medicine. In the future, basic research should focus on homoeostatic studies, and clinical research should focus on preventive medicine applications, not only in allergy. Collaborations between allergo-immunologists and microbiologists in basic research and a multidisciplinary approach in clinical research are likely to be the most fruitful.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Fiocchi
- Department of Pediatrics - Division of Allergy - Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesù - Rome, Vatican City
| | - Wesley Burks
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Sami L Bahna
- Department of Pediatrics and Medicine, Section of Allergy and Immunology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA
| | - Leonard Bielory
- Department of Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ
| | - Robert J Boyle
- Department of Paediatrics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Renata Cocco
- Division of Allergy, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sten Dreborg
- Department of Pediatric Allergology, Women's and Children's Health, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Richard Goodman
- Department of Food Science & Technology University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Mikael Kuitunen
- Skin and Allergy Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tari Haahtela
- Skin and Allergy Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ralf G Heine
- Department of Allergy and Immunology, Royal Children's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Gideon Lack
- King's College London, Asthma-UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, Department of Paediatric Allergy, St Thomas' Hospital, London, UK
| | - David A Osborn
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Hugh Sampson
- Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
| | - Gerald W Tannock
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Bee Wah Lee
- Department of Paediatrics, National University of Singapore, Singapore
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