research in context lancet

Further emphasis on research in context

Affiliations.

1 The Lancet, 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, UK.
2 The Lancet Oncology, 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, UK.
PMID: 25625383
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62047-X
Biomedical Research / economics
Biomedical Research / standards*
Clinical Trials as Topic / standards*
Editorial Policies*
Periodicals as Topic
Publishing / standards*

Instructions to authors to put research in context by the editors of the medical journal The Lancet

Systematic review.

This section should include a description of how authors searched for all the evidence. Authors should also say how they assessed the quality of that evidence – ie, how they selected and how they combined the evidence.

Interpretation

Authors should state here what their study adds to the totality of evidence when their study is added to previous work.

‘We ask that all research reports – randomised or not – submitted from Aug 1 . . . put the results into the context of the totality of evidence in the Discussion.’

Clark S, Horton R. Putting research in context – revisited . Lancet 2010;376:10-11.

In This Section

About the authors
Download the book
Translations
Why do we need fair tests of treatments?
What are fair tests of treatments?
What can be done to improve tests of treatments?
References (Foreword)
Foreword by Nick Ross
Why Testing Treatments was written
References (Introduction)
Thalidomide
Mechanical heart valves
References (Section 1)
Advice on babies’ sleeping position
Drugs to correct heart rhythm abnormalities in patients having a heart attack
Diethylstilboestrol
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
Evening primrose oil for eczema
References (Section 2)
Mutilating surgery
Bone marrow transplantation
Dare to think about doing less
References (Section 3)
Lessons from neuroblastoma screening
Phenylketonuria screening: clearly beneficial
Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening: proceed with care
Breast cancer screening: well established but remains contentious
Prostate cancer screening: clear harms with uncertain benefits
Lung cancer screening: early but not early enough?
Genetic tests: sometimes useful, often dodgy
What screening aims to achieve and why evidence matters
Is anyone normal?
References (Section 4)
Laser treatment of portwine stains
Imatinib for chronic myeloid leukaemia
Mother’s kiss
A new treatment for strawberry birthmarks
Moderate treatments effects: usual and not so obvious
Caffeine for breathing problems in premature babies
Antibiotics in pre-term labour
Breast cancer
Addressing uncertainties about the effects of treatments
Providing treatment as part of a fair test
References (Section 5)
The beneficial effects of optimism and wishful thinking
The need to go beyond impressions
So what are fair tests?
Treatments with dramatic effects
Comparing patients given treatments today with apparently similar patients given other treatments in the past for the same disease
Comparing apparently similar groups of patients who happen to have received different treatments in the same time period
Unbiased, prospective allocation to different treatments
Ways of using unbiased (random) allocation in treatment comparisons
Following up everyone in treatment comparisons
Dealing with departures from allocated treatments
Helping people to stick to allocated treatments
Fair measurement of treatment outcomes
Generating and investigating hunches about unanticipated adverse effects of treatments
References (Section 6)
Assessing the role that chance may have played in fair tests
What does a “significant difference” between treatments mean?
Obtaining large enough numbers in fair tests of treatments
References (Section 7)
Is one study ever enough?
Reducing biases in systematic reviews
Identifying all the relevant evidence for systematic reviews
Reducing the play of chance in systematic reviews
Recognizing vested interests and spin in systematic reviews
Avoidable harm to patients
Avoidable harm to people participating in research
Wasted resources in healthcare and research
Reports of new research should begin and end with systematic reviews
References (Section 8)
Do regulatory systems for testing treatments get it right?
Information and consent
What regulatory systems do not do
References (Section 9)
Pre-eclampsia in pregnant women
HIV infection in children
Psychiatric disorders
Epidural analgesia for women in labour
Respiratory distress in premature babies
Aprotinin: effect on bleeding during and after surgery
Questions that are important for patients
Who decides what gets studied?
References (Section 10)
How can patients and the public help to improve research?
Involving patients in research
Patients’ organizations: independent voices or not?
Bridging the gap between patients and researchers
Working collaboratively bodes well for the future
References (Section 11)
What might the ideas in this website look like for you?
Shared decision making: a consultation for a common condition
1: Isn’t anything worth trying when a patient has a life-threatening condition?
2: Although patients might want to know if a treatment ‘works’, suppose they don’t want all the details?
3: Statistics are confusing – should patients really have to look at the numbers?
4: How can someone know that the research evidence applies to them?
5: Won’t genetic testing – and ‘personalized medicine’ – mean doctors can work out the specific treatment needed in every individual and make all this unnecessary?
6: If someone has a condition that is being studied in an ongoing clinical trial, how do they find out about this if their doctor doesn’t know about it?
7: What’s the best way of telling if the evidence (on the web or elsewhere) is reliable?
8: Are there reliable sources of information that can be recommended?
9: How should people avoid being ‘labelled’ with an ‘illness’ and getting unnecessary treatments?
Where do we go from here?
References (Section 12)
Ask the right research questions
Design and conduct research properly
Publish all the results and make them accessible
Produce unbiased and useful research reports
Blueprint for a better future
Action plan – 10 things you can do
References (Section 13)