Dr. Phil Jones's new editorial offers suggestions for reducing publication bias
Can J Anaesth. 2016 Mar 30. [Epub ahead of print]
Publication bias in the anesthesiology literature: shifting the focus from the "positive" to the "truth"
About the Author
Dr. Philip Jones provides anesthesia care at the University Hospital (London Health Sciences Centre) and St. Joseph's Health Care London (including the Regional Mental Health Centre). He also supervises and trains medical students, anesthesia residents, and fellows. In addition, Dr. Jones works as an intensivist in the Cardiac Surgical Recovery Unit. Dr. Jones also currently serves as the Chair for the LHSC Drugs and Therapeutics Committee, a position which presents many research opportunities. At the University Hospital, the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine provides services for the following surgical disciplines: cardiac surgery, general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, urology, and plastic surgery. Dr. Jones is an active clinical leader and participant in all of these areas.
To learn more about Dr. Jones's research, please visit his biography.
"Our knowledge about the appropriate medical interventions to apply in particular clinical scenarios stems primarily from published observational studies and randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Consequently, if we have access to only a biased (positive) slice of the total evidence base, we run a serious risk of applying the wrong intervention to the wrong patient at the wrong time—quite possibly harming our patients. Specifically, if negative studies are not published, we can be fooled into thinking that particular interventions are more efficacious or safer than in actuality" (Jones 2016, 1)
