Paper on selective reporting bias wins Cochrane Bill Silverman prize

The Cochrane Bill Silverman prize was awarded today to the authors of a paper which investigated the selective reporting bias of harm outcomes within studies. The paper entitled “selective reporting bias of harm outcomes within studies: findings from a cohort of systematic reviews” concludes that “the number of reviews suspected of outcome reporting bias as a result of missing or partially reported harm related outcomes from at least one eligible study is high. The declaration of important harms and the quality of the reporting of harm outcomes must be improved in both primary studies and systematic reviews”.

The Bill Silverman prize is awarded annually in recognition of a piece of research that critiques an aspect of the work of the collaboration with the aim of improving the research undertaken and therefore improving access to the best available evidence of the effectiveness of healthcare interventions.

Reference
Saini P, Loke YK, Gamble C, Altman DG, Williamson PR, Kirkham JJ. Selective reporting bias of harm outcomes within studies: findings from a cohort of systematic reviews. BMJ 2014;349:g6501. PMID: 25416499