PROSPERO

A third of systematic reviews changed or did not specify the primary outcome: a PROSPERO register study

Tricco AC, Cogo E, Page MJ, Polisena J, Booth A, Dwan K, MacDonald H, Clifford TJ, Stewart LA, Straus SE, Moher D. A third of systematic reviews changed or did not specify the primary outcome: a PROSPERO register study. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2016;79:46-54. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.03.025

Altmetric:

Bottom Line:

• Approximately one-third of systematic reviews that are registered in PROSPERO have discrepancies in primary outcomes between their record and review publication

Impact:

• This study aims to promote transparency and reduce discrepancies in review conduct by encouraging:
  • Review authors to register all non-Cochrane reviews in PROSPERO
  • Review authors to carefully consider the selection of primary outcomes
  • Peer reviewers to check PROSPERO to see if there are any discrepancies between the record and review publication
  • Journals to focus acceptance on registered systematic reviews

Additional Resources:

• Research brief
• Full publication
• Audio/Video

Funding:

None