BioMed Central Blog
Authenticity of some published trials in question
More than 90% of a sample of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in Chinese journals between 1994 and 2005 did not adhere to recognised methodology for randomisation, according to a study published yesterday in Trials, casting doubt on the reliability of research that has the potential to influence medical decision-makers.
Wu and colleagues (Chinese Cochrane Centre at Sichuan University, China and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute) searched the China National Knowledge Infrastructure electronic database for reports published in the Chinese literature between January 1994 and June 2005, that were described by the authors as RCTs or claimed to have used random sequence generation or allocation concealment.
Telephone interviews with the first or co-authors of 2235 reports about randomisation methods and quality-control features of the trial indicated that only 6.8% of the studies be considered “authentic” RCTs. Although only 51.6% of trials supported by government or other official organizations were found to be authentic, all trials of pre-market drugs were identified as such. Wu et al. report that of the first-authors erroneously identifying their studies as RCTs, 85.6% did not fully understand the principles of randomisation, whilst 5.1% mislabelled their trials despite an understanding of the relevant methodology.
Methodology
Randomized trials published in some Chinese journals: how many are randomized?
Taixiang Wu, Youping Li, Zhaoxiang Bian, Guanjian Liu, David Moher
Trials 2009, 10:46 (2 July 2009)
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]
The misleading reporting of RCTs is likely a worldwide problem, but the investigators suggest a link between their results and the high proportion of positive trial results published in Chinese journals, noting that inadequate randomisation has been previously shown to result in more favourable estimates of treatment effects. They also highlight the potential for falsely reported RCTs to mislead healthcare providers and policy makers, and impact upon the findings of systematic reviews.
Wu et al. advocate improvements to the education of researchers in the principles of randomisation methodology and scientific reporting. In addition, they suggest that the development of peer review guidelines is needed to help identify poorly randomised studies before publication.
Victoria Thompson
Assistant Journal Development Editor - Trials
Posted by Iain Hrynaszkiewicz at 17:16 Comments (0)
Reporting of treatment heterogeneity proves challenging
A review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that had been published in five prominent medical journals has revealed that heterogeneity of treatment effects (HTE) is frequently ignored or incorrectly analysed. The results of this study were published last week in Trials.
Some patients will experience more or less benefit from treatment than the averages reported from clinical trials; the magnitude of such variation in therapeutic outcome across a population is termed HTE. Highly variable treatment response rates are known to exist for many common conditions, including ischemic stroke and diabetes. Identifying HTE is therefore necessary to individualise treatment.
Gabler et al., conducted a review of the prevalence of HTE analyses in 319 RCTs published in Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ, Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, and New England Journal of Medicine. They found that just 29% of studies reported HTE analysis and were only marginally better in 2004 than in 1994. Another 28% reported subgroup-only analyses, without the formal statistical tests of heterogeneity that are recommended by the CONSORT guidelines.
The authors conclude that HTE reporting in the general medical literature is neither rigorous nor routine and suggest it may be time to develop new standards for reporting.
Dealing with heterogeneity of treatment effects: is the literature up to the challenge?
Nicole B Gabler, Naihua Duan, Diana Liao, Joann G Elmore, Theodore G Ganiats, Richard L Kravitz
These results follow those of a another study published last year in Trials, which revealed that only 31% of RCTs published in the same leading medical journals reliably accounted for missing data when analysing quality of life outcomes.
In addition to original research relating to RCTs, Trials also encourages the publication of study protocols, recognizing that this reduces risk of non-publication of trial results and facilitates methodological discussion. Such published study protocols, while important to the scientific record, are unlikely to be heavily cited. It is therefore all the more impressive that Trials has increased its Impact Factor in the latest 2008 Journal Citation Reports to 1.74 (up from 1.44 last year). For the first time the journal is ranked above competitors such as the official journal of the Society for Clinical Trials, Clinical Trials (2008 Impact Factor 1.69) and the Elsevier title Contemporary Clinical Trials (2008 Impact Factor 1.42).
For more information about the journal Trials, please contact the editorial office.
Abigail Jones
Senior Assistant Editor – Trials
Posted by Iain Hrynaszkiewicz at 17:15 Comments (0)
BioPsychoSocial Medicine announces the Winner of the 2008 Ikemi Award
The winner of this year’s Ikemi Award was Hiroki Nishimura, MA (National Institute of Mental Health, NCNP, Tokyo) for his article published in BioPsychoSocial Medicine.Psychological and weight-related characteristics of patients with anorexia nervosa-restricting type who later develop bulimia nervosa
Nishimura H, Komaki G, Ando T, Nakahara T, Oka T, Kawai K, Nagata T, Nishizono A, Okamoto Y, Okabe K, Koide M, Yamaguchi C, Saito S, Ohkuma K, Nagata K, Naruo T, Takii M, Kiriike N, Ishikawa T, Japanese Genetic Research Group for Eating Disorders
BioPsychoSocial Medicine 2008, 2:5 (12 February 2008)
The 2008 Ikemi Award was presented to Mr Nishimura at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine.
The Ikemi Award is presented to the first author of the best article (as decided by the selection committee) published in BioPsychoSocial Medicine during the previous year. To be considered for the 2009 Ikemi Award, submit your next manuscript to BioPsychoSocial Medicine. Please see the Award page of the journal website for further details.BioPsychoSocial Medicine is the official journal of the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine and publishes research on psychosomatic disorders and diseases. For more information, please see the ‘About’ page or contact the Editorial office.
Posted by Genevieve Horne at 09:50 Comments (0)
Recent advances in materials and technology mean that the field of robotic exoskeletons is full of new and exciting potential. The purposes of and uses for exoskeletons are continually expanding, as is demonstrated in the series Robotic lower limb exoskeletons, edited by Dr Daniel Ferris and published in Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.
Introduced by Dr Ferris’ commentary ‘The exoskeletons are here’, the nine articles in this series cover diverse topics ranging from robotic movement training after neurological injury, gait training after stroke, and energy harvesting exoskeletons that function by converting mechanical work at the knee into electrical energy.
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Paolo Bonato and a prestigious Editorial Board. For more information, please see the journals ‘About’ page.
Posted by Genevieve Horne at 17:08 Comments (0)
Data publication and openness in the scientific community
Data publication: towards a database of
everything, a Commentary article published in BMC Research Notes, discusses the
changing nature of data publication, the challenges that face the Open Science
movement, and why the publication of primary scientific data is important to us
all.
This short Commentary article by Vincent S Smith is an interesting and timely contribution to the literature and debate surrounding publication of primary scientific data.
Rhian Cunliffe
Senior Journal Development Editor, BMC-series journals
Posted by Rhian Cunliffe at 12:30 Comments (0)
Richard Hays joins Asia Pacific Family Medicine as co-Editor-in-Chief
Richard Hays has recently joined Tai Pong Lam and Zorayda Leopando as co-Editor-in-Chief of Asia Pacific Family Medicine.
We are pleased to welcome Richard, the Head of the School of Medicine at Keele
University, onboard the journal. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Lyn
Clearihan for her hard work and dedication as she retires as co-Editor.
Asia Pacific Family Medicine is currently inviting contributions to a thematic series entitled ‘The expanding role of family medicine in medical education’. Authors are invited to submit their latest research on this topic for publication in a article series highlighting the important role of GPs in medical education, review and commentary articles will also be considered. Anyone wishing to contribute to this thematic series should submit their work by the end of December 2009, or contact the Editorial Office to discuss further.
Asia Pacific Family Medicine, the official journal for the Asia Pacific Region of WONCA, aims to provide a forum for the dissemination of high quality regional research and to enhance the standards of family medicine by focusing on best practice.Posted by Charlotte Hubbard at 10:54 Comments (0)
Stem Cell Research & Therapy: now accepting submissions
A new BioMed Central journal, Stem Cell Research & Therapy, is now accepting submissions.
Stem Cell Research & Therapy aims to be the major forum for translational research into stem cell therapies. An international peer-reviewed journal, it will publish open access research articles of outstanding quality. The journal will have a special emphasis on translational, laboratory, and clinical research into stem cells. It will include animal trials, pre-clinical and clinical trials. We will consider adult, embryonic, and induced pluripotent stem cell research, especially with a focus on cell-based transplantation, drug discovery and testing, cell-mediated tissue response and biological effects stimulated by endogenous cells. We will have a unique focus on drug discovery and testing, stem cell manufacture, engineering, and biomaterials.
The journal is edited by Dr Rocky Tuan (National Institutes of Health, USA) and Prof Timothy O'Brien (National University of Ireland, Galway), and is supported by an international Editorial Board.
Stem Cell Research & Therapy joins BioMed Central’s growing portfolio of journals that uniquely focus on publishing translational research of exceptional interest, as well as authoritative reviews and commentaries. Other titles in this series include the well-established Arthritis Research & Therapy, and Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, which is due to publish its first issue in July 2009.
For more information on Stem Cell Research & Therapy please visit the journal’s information page or contact the editorial office. To keep up to date with the latest developments and to receive a copy of the inaugural issue, please register your email address on the website.
Submit your next outstanding piece of research to Stem Cell Research & Therapy to benefit from the rapid peer review, high visibility, and immediate and free access to all research papers.
Surayya Johar
In-house Editor
Stem Cell Research & Therapy
Posted by Iain Hrynaszkiewicz at 10:07 Comments (0)
BioMed Central on location in Taipei
Following a gruelling 15 hour flight (my longest to date), I arrived in downtown Taipei to attend the 12th International Symposium of the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America (SCBA). 2009 is the 25th Anniversary of SCBA and the 2nd time that the society had held their biennial meeting in Taiwan. With sessions at the symposium as diverse as aquaculture, cognitive neuroscience and even entrepreneurship, it is no wonder the event now attracts in excess of 1200 delegates.
I was invited to attend the symposium by Kuan-Teh Jeang (pictured above centre), editor of our highly successful independent journal, Retrovirology and President Elect of the SCBA.
Whilst I struggled with the heat and humidity and the total lack of Western food during my visit, I managed to catch up with Michael Lai the editor of the Journal of Biomedical Science. JBS is a leading Taiwanese journal that recently moved to open access with BioMed Central. It was pleasing that whilst talking to Michael and networking with SCBA Council Members, symposium speakers, journalists and delegates alike, I could see not only the growth of scientific output across the Far East, but also the growth of awareness in open access. 
Not to pass up the opportunity of soaking up some of Taipei's culture during my visit, I braved the heights (509.2 meters) of Taipei 101, the world's tallest building.
I discovered that the building design focuses on the number 8. It is constructed with 8 segments each with 8 floors and that this symbolises prosperity and good fortune in Chinese culture - I had the good fortune not to feel queasy from the viewing deck located on the 91st floor!
Matt McKay, Head of PR
Posted by Charlotte Webber at 11:33 Comments (0)
Recently we have noticed more and more researchers using Twitter as an informal channel to share thoughts on the latest open access research published in our journals. We're always keen to facilitate such discussions, and with that in mind we have recently added 'Post to Twitter' as a convenient option in the right hand toolbar of each BioMed Central journal article.
We've also in the early stages of using Twittter ourselves - you can follow us as BioMedCentral:
So far, our Twitter feed includes blog posts and hot article notifications, along with various short updates and links relating to BioMed Central and open access publishing. Any other suggestions? Let us know!
Posted by Matthew Cockerill at 22:22 Comments (1)
New and improved impact factors for BioMed Central journals in the 2008 JCR
The latest edition of Thomson Reuter's Journal Citation Reports has just been released, with official Impact Factors for a total of 59 BioMed Central journals†. Impact factors are by no means a perfect quality metric, but these journal citation data provide strong evidence of the growing success of BioMed Central's open access journal portfolio.
Highlights include:
- Impressive initial Impact Factors for two key titles in the BMC series:BMC Medicine and BMC Systems Biology
- Initial Impact Factor for Nutrition & Metabolism, placing it in the top 25% of the NUTRITION & DIETETICS category
- Initial Impact Factor of 3.45 for Neural Development
- An increased Impact Factor for BMC Bioinformatics, now ranked #3 of 28 in MATHEMATICAL & COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY.
- An increased Impact Factor for BMC Plant Biology, which is now ranked #14 of 152 in PLANT SCIENCES (one of the top 10 research journals listed in the category)
- An increased Impact Factor of Malaria Journal . The TROPICAL MEDICINE category now has open access journals in both the #1 and #2 spots.
- Excellent performance by BioMed Central's cancer journals: Breast Cancer Research and Molecular Cancer's Impact Factors both increased to above 5.0, while BMC Cancer's Impact Factor is now above 3.0.
- Improved Impact Factors for society-affiliated journals published by BioMed Central: Geochemical Transactions , Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica
- A significantly increased Impact Factor for Critical Care, ranked #4 of 21 in CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE.
Full Impact Factor listing (new or increased impact factors are shown in bold)
[Read More]Posted by Matthew Cockerill at 21:20 Comments (3)
BMC Medical Genomics publishes over 100 articles
Since launching in January last year,
BMC Medical Genomics has published over 100 articles. The latest original research paper, on growth
factor signalling in drug-insensitive breast cancers has recently been press-released. This is a fantastic start for a new
publication, and in just over a year the journal has published a diverse range of
research covering our wide scope.
Recent research highlights include exciting work by Hai Yan’s group at Duke University and the Vogelstein, Kinzler and Velculescu labs at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions using Digital Karyotyping Microbe Identification to determine the presence of microbial DNA in human tumor samples, and the discovery by Olli Kallioniemi’s group in Turku University of a putative breast cancer tumor-suppressor by a novel combination of array-CGH with non-sense mediated mRNA decay and gene expression data. As well as original research, the journal has also published commentaries and reviews, the latest by Edward Ramos and Charles Rotimi on the positive contribution that medical genomics can have on improving the health of minority groups. Douglas Kell’s overarching systems medicine review of the otherwise highly disparate literature linking inappropriate iron chelation and human disease published at the start of the year is already our most highly-accessed article, with over 5000 accesses in just 5 months.
BMC Medical Genomics, along with BMC Systems Biology, was one of the first journals in the BMC-series to embrace the involvement of Associate Editors in the peer review process. We would like to thank all of our Associate Editors as well as members of our Advisory Board for their help and support since the launch of the journal. Submit your next paper to BMC Medical Genomics to take part in the future success of the journal!
Scott Edmunds PhD
In-house Editor, BMC Medical Genomics
Posted by Scott Edmunds at 16:55 Comments (0)
BMC Research Notes publishes 250th article
In October last year BMC Research Notes reached its 100th article milestone, only eight months after its launch. I am now delighted to announce that after a further eight months we have reached the 250th article landmark.
BMC Research Notes remains firmly within the top 10 BMC-series journals, in terms of both submissions and publications, and continues to attract the submission of valuable manuscripts that otherwise may have remained unpublished.
The 250th article, A comprehensive resource for integrating and displaying protein post-translational modifications, by Tzong-Yi Lee and colleagues, will also feature in our Databases Topical series, which is a collection of articles describing new or improved databases.
In this data note, Lee and colleagues present the implementation of dbPTM 2.0, a database of both experimentally verified and predicted post-translational modifications (PTMs). In its latest version the database integrates, in an enhanced web interface, tools to visualise PTMs in the context of the proteins' secondary and tertiary structure, structural properties of PTM sites such as solvent accessibility to substrate and information on the evolutionary conservation of these modifications.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all authors, reviewers and committed Editorial Board Members who have been involved in the successful growth of BMC Research Notes. Our Editorial Board has played a significant role in developing the journal by investing their time and efforts into providing their expert advice, and we appreciate their continued dedication to this important and innovative journal.
We welcome readers’ feedback on the journal and its contents. If you have any questions about the journal and our editorial policies, or if you would like to be involved in the journal, as an author, reviewer, or Associate Editor, please do get in touch.
Rhian Cunliffe
Senior Journal Development Editor, BMC-series journals
Posted by Rhian Cunliffe at 11:31 Comments (0)
Copy number variation: larger clues to cancer?
‘Copy number variations and cancer’, a Review article published in Genome Medicine, describes the emerging importance of the role of genetic structural variation and diversity in cancer.
Copy number variations (CNV) are large, structurally variant regions of DNA that contribute substantially to genetic diversity. Until recently, the majority of genomic studies in cancer have focused on the single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with different forms of the disease. Technological progress in the form of high-resolution SNP arrays, however, has allowed the identification of increasing numbers of CNVs and the association of these components of genetic variation with different forms of cancer has become apparent.
As Dr Adam Shlien and Dr David Malkin discuss in this Review, the importance of understanding the complex structural dynamics of CNVs, both in constitutional and somatic mutations, and their association with cancer, is evident. The authors analyze the research in this field to date, and highlight the possibility of exciting developments for the future.
Genome Medicine, BioMed Central’s premier medical journal, stands at the forefront of research and clinical practice in the post-genomic era. The journal is led by six Section Editors and is supported by a world renowned Editorial Board.
We welcome cutting-edge genomic and post-genomic research reporting findings that significantly advance our understanding and management of human health and disease.
Keep abreast of recent developments in these exciting times: register for article updates and submit your next manuscript of outstanding research to Genome Medicine.
Jasmine Farsarakis
Commissioning/Development Editor, Genome Medicine
Posted by Jasmine Farsarakis at 11:26 Comments (0)
Swine flu and the modeling of pandemics – A new review in BMC Medicine
Influenza A (H1N1), more commonly known as swine flu, has recently received a great deal of media attention, much of it focused on the measures that governments and organisations are taking to contain this infectious disease from spreading.
A new review published this week in BMC Medicine by Editorial Board member Sally Blower and her colleagues at the Semel Institute Centre for Biomedical modeling, UCLA considers how mathematical modeling of influenza pandemic outbreaks can inform pandemic preparedness planning, using swine flu as the focus.
Review
Modeling influenza epidemics and pandemics: insights into the future of swine flu (H1N1)
Brian J Coburn, Bradley G Wagner, Sally Blower
BMC Medicine 2009, 7:30 (22 June 2009)
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]
If you are interested in the recent swine flu outbreak, visit the BioMed Central Influenza Gateway for more information. This portal includes the latest news about Influenza A (H1N1), as well as the latest research about influenza published across all of the BioMed Central journals.
BMC Medicine publishes original research articles, commentaries and reviews in all areas of medical science and clinical practice. To be appropriate for BMC Medicine, articles need to be of outstanding quality, broad interest and special importance. Why not sign up for our article alerts to keep abreast of notable research in medicine, and submit your outstanding research articles?
Posted by Robin Cassady-Cain at 09:38 Comments (0)
Submit your next case report to the BMC series
Following the recent departure of the Journal of Medical Case Reports from BioMed Central’s portfolio, the medical journals in the BMC series have started considering case reports again.
BMC Gastroenterology has just published the first case report since this policy came to effect. The article ‘The clinicopathologic observation, c-KIT gene mutation and clonal status of gastrointestinal stromal tumor in the sacrum‘ by Li Gong and colleagues describes the clinicopathological characterization of a primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the sacrum.
Case reports allow the rapid and concise reporting of previously unknown treatment side effects, novel therapeutic approaches, unusual clinical associations and diagnostic dilemmas. They can make a significant contribution to the literature, particularly for medical specialties such as surgery or emergency medicine, where the development of clinical trials can be ethically or methodologically challenging.
Several case reports rank among the most accessed articles for several medical journals in the BMC series, which speak for the readers’ support for this article type. The article ‘Myocardial bridging as a cause of acute myocardial infarction: a case report’, published in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders for example, has been accessed over 22,000 times, while the case report ‘Confounding factors in diagnosing brain death: a case report' is the fourth most accessed article for BMC Neurology with more than 13,000 accesses.
The medical journals in the BMC series consider reports of unusual or exceptional cases that advance clinical knowledge. We welcome manuscripts reporting case reports falling under any of the categories below:
1. Unreported or unusual side effects or adverse interactions involving medications
2. Unexpected or unusual presentations of a disease
3. New associations or variations in disease processes
4. Presentations, diagnoses and/or management of new and emerging diseases
5. An unexpected association between diseases or symptoms
6. An unexpected event in the course of observing or treating a patient
7. Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect
You can submit your case report online by visiting the most appropriate journal within the BMC series.
We look forward to receiving your next case report.
Iratxe Puebla
Senior Editor, BMC-series journals
Posted by Iratxe Puebla at 15:11 Comments (0)