Features and signals in precocious citation impact: A meta-research study.

The current analysis aimed to evaluate the profiles of scientists who reach top citation impact in a very short time once they start publishing. Precocious citation impact was defined as rising to become a top-cited scientist within t ≤ 8 years after the first publication year. Ultra-precocious citation impact was defined similarly for t ≤ 5 years.

Global Estimates of Lives and Life-Years Saved by COVID-19 Vaccination During 2020-2024.

Importance: Estimating global lives and life-years saved is important to put into perspective the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. Prior studies have focused mainly on the pre-Omicron period or only on specific regions, and lack crucial life-year calculations and often depend on strong modeling assumptions with unaccounted uncertainty.

Objective: To calculate the lives and life-years saved by COVID-19 vaccination worldwide from the onset of the vaccination campaigns and until October 1, 2024.

Single-Arm Trials Can Provide Randomized Real-World Evidence: The Random Invitation Single-Arm Trial Design.

Single-arm trials can be used to explore the feasibility, implementation, and effects of treatment. They typically use opportunistic convenience sampling to find potential participants. Their main limitations for health care decision making are lack of generalizability and the poor quality of the comparative evidence they produce.

Evaluation of reported claims of sex-based differences in treatment effects across meta-analyses: a meta-research study.

Importance: Differences in treatment effects between men and women may have important implications across diverse interventions and diseases.

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate claims of sex-based differences in treatment effects across published meta-analyses.

Eligibility Criteria: Published meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that had any mention of sex (male/female) subgroup or related analysis in their abstract INFORMATION SOURCES: PubMed (searched up to 17 January 2024).

Bridging the gap in obesity research: A consensus statement from the European Society for Clinical Investigation.

Background: Most forms of obesity are associated with chronic diseases that remain a global public health challenge.

Aims: Despite significant advancements in understanding its pathophysiology, effective management of obesity is hindered by the persistence of knowledge gaps in epidemiology, phenotypic heterogeneity and policy implementation.

Materials And Methods: This consensus statement by the European Society for Clinical Investigation identifies eight critical areas requiring urgent attention.

There is no upper limit on the maximum effect that can be detected in randomized trials.

Background And Objectives: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are commonly viewed as essential for detecting small treatment benefits, yet they also identify large ("dramatic") effects. Forecasting the likelihood of future large effects helps guide resource allocation for conducting clinical trials.

Methods: We included consecutive cancer RCTs from 5 cohorts identified by funders or trial registries, minimizing publication bias.

In-house editorials and journalistic pieces comprise a massive corpus in the scientific literature that can be improved.

In-house editorials and journalistic pieces are massively published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. This corpus has remained outside the efforts of evidence-based medicine and research reform, and it can be imbued with unchecked biases. High-impact journals publish such pieces massively and may generate strong support for specific narratives and perspectives.

Biases and debiasing in policy decision-making.

Policy decision-making should use the best evidence obtained with the most rigorous and reproducible science and should be applied with minimal bias to maximize positive outcomes. This is particularly important in public health and other major decisions. Reality, however, is usually far from this ideal.

SPIRIT 2025 statement: updated guideline for protocols of randomized trials.

The protocol of a randomized trial is the foundation for study planning, conduct, reporting and external review. However, trial protocols vary in their completeness and often do not address key elements of design and conduct. The SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) statement was first published in 2013 as guidance to improve the completeness of trial protocols.

SPIRIT 2025 explanation and elaboration: updated guideline for protocols of randomised trials.

High quality protocols facilitate proper planning, conduct, reporting, and external review of randomised trials, yet their completeness varies and key elements are often not considered. To strengthen good reporting of trial protocols, the SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) 2013 statement has been updated to incorporate new evidence and emerging perspectives. This SPIRIT 2025 explanation and elaboration document provides users with exemplars of reporting in contemporary trial protocols, contextual elaboration, more detailed guidance on reporting, references to key empirical studies, an expanded checklist, and a link to a website for further information.

SPIRIT 2025 statement: updated guideline for protocols of randomised trials.

Importance: The protocol of a randomised trial is the foundation for study planning, conduct, reporting, and external review. However, trial protocols vary in their completeness and often do not address key elements of design and conduct. The SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) statement was first published in 2013 as guidance to improve the completeness of trial protocols.

SPIRIT 2025 Statement: Updated Guideline for Protocols of Randomized Trials.

Importance: The protocol of a randomized trial is the foundation for study planning, conduct, reporting, and external review. However, trial protocols vary in their completeness and often do not address key elements of design and conduct. The SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) statement was first published in 2013 as guidance to improve the completeness of trial protocols.

SPIRIT 2025 statement: Updated guideline for protocols of randomised trials.

Importance: The protocol of a randomised trial is the foundation for study planning, conduct, reporting, and external review. However, trial protocols vary in their completeness and often do not address key elements of design and conduct. The SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) statement was first published in 2013 as guidance to improve the completeness of trial protocols.

Registered clinical trial trends evolved differently in East Asia vs the United States during 2014-2023.

Objectives: East Asia, including China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, has become a major hub for clinical trials. However, comprehensive comparisons between ClinicalTrials.gov and local registries remain limited.

CONSORT 2025 statement: updated guideline for reporting randomised trials.

Well designed and properly executed randomised trials are considered the most reliable evidence on the benefits of healthcare interventions. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the quality of reporting is not optimal. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement was designed to improve the quality of reporting and provides a minimum set of items to be included in a report of a randomised trial.

CONSORT 2025 statement: updated guideline for reporting randomized trials.

Well-designed and properly executed randomized trials are considered the most reliable evidence on the benefits of healthcare interventions. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the quality of reporting is not optimal. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement was designed to improve the quality of reporting and provides a minimum set of items to be included in a report of a randomized trial.

CONSORT 2025 statement: updated guideline for reporting randomised trials.

Background: Well designed and properly executed randomised trials are considered the most reliable evidence on the benefits of healthcare interventions. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the quality of reporting is not optimal. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement was designed to improve the quality of reporting and provides a minimum set of items to be included in a report of a randomised trial.

CONSORT 2025 explanation and elaboration: updated guideline for reporting randomised trials.

Critical appraisal of the quality of randomised trials is possible only if their design, conduct, analysis, and results are completely and accurately reported. Without transparent reporting of the methods and results, readers will not be able to fully evaluate the reliability and validity of trial findings. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement aims to improve the quality of reporting and provides a minimum set of items to be included in a report of a randomised trial.

CONSORT 2025 Statement: Updated Guideline for Reporting Randomized Trials.

Importance: Well-designed and properly executed randomized trials are considered the most reliable evidence on the benefits of health care interventions. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the quality of reporting is not optimal. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement was designed to improve the quality of reporting and provides a minimum set of items to be included in a report of a randomized trial.

CONSORT 2025 statement: Updated guideline for reporting randomised trials.

Background: Well designed and properly executed randomised trials are considered the most reliable evidence on the benefits of healthcare interventions. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the quality of reporting is not optimal. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement was designed to improve the quality of reporting and provides a minimum set of items to be included in a report of a randomised trial.

Evolution of reported patient and public involvement over time in randomised controlled trials in major medical journals and in their protocols: meta-epidemiological evaluation.

Objective: To investigate the reporting and evolution of patient and public involvement (PPI) in randomised controlled trials published over time in major medical journals and in their trial protocols.

Design: Meta-epidemiological evaluation.

Data Source: PubMed was searched for articles reporting randomised controlled trials published since 2015 in four major medical journals and their corresponding peer reviewed protocols.

Across 73 meta-analyses mortality improvements are uncommon with newer interventions in adult cardiac surgery.

Objectives: We aimed to assess how often randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in adult cardiac surgery found significant mortality benefits for newer interventions vs older ones, whether observed treatment effect estimates changed over time and whether RCTs and nonrandomized observational studies gave similar results.

Methods: We searched journals likely to publish systematic reviews on adult cardiac surgery for meta-analyses of mortality outcomes and that included at least 1 RCT, with or without observational studies. Relative treatment effect sizes were evaluated overall, over time, and per study design.

Transparency in the secondary use of health data: assessing the status quo of guidance and best practices.

We evaluated what guidance exists in the literature to improve the transparency of studies that make secondary use of health data. To find peer-reviewed papers, we searched PubMed and Google Scholar. To find institutional documents, we used our personal expertise to draft a list of health organizations and searched their websites.