The strong focus on positive results in abstracts may cause bias in systematic reviews: a case study on abstract reporting bias.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Research articles tend to focus on positive findings in their abstract, especially if multiple outcomes have been studied. At the same time, search queries in databases are generally limited to the abstract, title and keywords fields of an article. Negative findings are therefore less likely to be detected by systematic searches and to appear in systematic reviews. We aim to assess the occurrence of this 'abstract reporting bias' and quantify its impact in the literature on the association between diesel exhaust exposure (DEE) and bladder cancer.

Methods

We set up a broad search query related to DEE and cancer in general. Full-texts of the articles identified in the search output were manually scanned. Articles were included if they reported, anywhere in the full-

SUBMITTER: Duyx B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6637611 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature