Identifying spin bias of nonsignificant findings in biomedical studies

BMC Research Notes

Research Note

Renée O’Leary¹  Riccardo Polosa²  Giusy Rita Maria La Rosa³  Robin Vernooij⁴ 

[1]Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia, 89 Torre Biologica 11 piano, 95123, Catania, Italy

[2]Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia, 89 Torre Biologica 11 piano, 95123, Catania, Italy

[3]Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

[4]Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

[5]Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

[6]Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

关键词: Spin bias;    Data discrepancies;    Bias assessment;    Peer review;    Nonsignificant results;    Systematic literature reviews;    Quality assessment tools;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-023-06321-2

 received in 2023-02-01, accepted in 2023-03-30,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveThe purpose of this research note is to share a technique for the identification of spin bias that we developed as part of a living systematic review on the cardiovascular testing of e-cigarette substitution for cigarette smoking. While some researchers have remarked on the subjective nature of ascertaining spin bias, our technique objectively documents forms of spin bias arising from the misrepresentation of nonsignificant findings and from the omission of data.ResultsWe offer a two-step process for the identification of spin bias consisting of tracking data and findings and recording of data discrepancies by describing how the spin bias was produced in the text. In this research note, we give an example of the documentation of spin bias from our systematic review. Our experience was that nonsignificant results were presented as causal or even as significant in the Discussion of studies. Spin bias distorts scientific research and misleads readers; therefore it behooves peer reviewers and journal editors to make the effort to detect and correct it.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023