Competing with a pandemic: Trends in research design in a time of Covid-19.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

During the Covid-19 pandemic, major journals have published a significant number of Covid-19 related articles in a short period of time. While this is necessary to combat the worldwide pandemic, it may have trade-offs with respect to publishing research from other disciplines.

Objectives

To assess differences in published research design before and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional review of all 322 full-length research studies published between October 1, 2019 and April 30, 2020 in three major medical journals. We compared the number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and studies with a control group before and after January 31, 2020, when Covid-19 began garnering international attention.

Results

The number of

SUBMITTER: Bian SX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7482957 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature