Characteristics of medical research news reported on front pages of newspapers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The placement of medical research news on a newspaper's front page is intended to gain the public's attention, so it is important to understand the source of the news in terms of research maturity and evidence level.

Methodology/principal findings

We searched LexisNexis to identify medical research reported on front pages of major newspapers published from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2002. We used MEDLINE and Google Scholar to find journal articles corresponding to the research, and determined their evidence level. Of 734 front-page medical research stories identified, 417 (57%) referred to mature research published in peer-reviewed journals. The remaining 317 stories referred to preliminary findings presented at scientific or press meetings; 144 (45%) of thos

SUBMITTER: Lai WY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2699539 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature