Methodological steps used by authors of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of clinical trials: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SR/MAs) depends on the extent of the methods used. We investigated the methodological steps used by authors of SR/MAs of clinical trials via an author survey.

Methods

We conducted an email-based cross-sectional study by contacting corresponding authors of SR/MAs that were published in 2015 and 2016 and retrieved through the PubMed database. The 27-item questionnaire was developed to study the methodological steps used by authors when conducting a SR/MA and the demographic characteristics of the respondent. Besides the demographic characteristics, methodological questions regarding the source, extraction and synthesis of data were included.

Results

From 10,292 emails sent, 384 authors responded and were in

SUBMITTER: Giang HTN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6659247 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature