@article{ecece7c06fa511dfa3f2000ea68e967b,
title = "Susceptibility to fraud in systematic reviews: lessons from the Reuben case",
abstract = "BACKGROUND: Dr. Scott Reuben allegedly fabricated data. The authors of the current article examined the impact of Reuben reports on conclusions of systematic reviews. METHODS: The authors searched in ISI Web of Knowledge systematic reviews citing Reuben reports. Systematic reviews were grouped into one of three categories: I, only cited but did not include Reuben reports; II, retrieved and considered, but eventually excluded Reuben reports; III, included Reuben reports. For quantitative systematic reviews (i.e., meta-analyses), a relevant difference was defined as a significant result becoming nonsignificant (or vice versa) by excluding Reuben reports. For qualitative systematic reviews, each author decided independently whether noninclusion of Reuben reports would have changed conclusions. RESULTS: Twenty-five systematic reviews (5 category I, 6 category II, 14 category III) cited 27 Reuben reports (published 1994-2007). Most tested analgesics in surgical patients. One of 6 quantitative category III reviews would have reached different conclusions without Reuben reports. In all 6 (30 subgroup analyses involving Reuben reports), exclusion of Reuben reports never made any difference when the number of patients from Reuben reports was less than 30% of all patients included in the analysis. Of 8 qualitative category III reviews, all authors agreed that one would certainly have reached different conclusions without Reuben reports. For another 4, the authors' judgment was not unanimous. CONCLUSIONS: Carefully performed systematic reviews proved robust against the impact of Reuben reports. Quantitative systematic reviews were vulnerable if the fraudulent data were more than 30% of the total. Qualitative systematic reviews seemed at greater risk than quantitative.",
author = "Emmanuel Marret and Nadia Elia and Dahl, {J{\o}rgen B} and McQuay, {Henry J} and Steen M{\o}iniche and Moore, {R Andrew} and Sebastian Straube and Tram{\`e}r, {Martin R}",
note = "Keywords: Analgesics; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; Humans; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Pain, Postoperative; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Review Literature as Topic; Scientific Misconduct; Treatment Outcome",
year = "2009",
doi = "10.1097/ALN.0b013e3181c14c3d",
language = "English",
volume = "111",
pages = "1279--89",
journal = "Anesthesiology",
issn = "0003-3022",
publisher = "Lippincott Williams and Wilkins",
number = "6",
}