Nieminen Pentti, Carpenter James, Rucker Gerta, Schumacher Martin
Medical Informatics Group, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland.
BMC Med Res Methodol. 2006 Sep 1;6:42. doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-6-42.
Citation counts are often regarded as a measure of the utilization and contribution of published articles. The objective of this study is to assess whether statistical reporting and statistical errors in the analysis of the primary outcome are associated with the number of citations received.
We evaluated all original research articles published in 1996 in four psychiatric journals. The statistical and reporting quality of each paper was assessed and the number of citations received up to 2005 was obtained from the Web of Science database. We then examined whether the number of citations was associated with the quality of the statistical analysis and reporting.
A total of 448 research papers were included in the citation analysis. Unclear or inadequate reporting of the research question and primary outcome were not statistically significantly associated with the citation counts. After adjusting for journal, extended description of statistical procedures had a positive effect on the number of citations received. Inappropriate statistical analysis did not affect the number of citations received. Adequate reporting of the primary research question, statistical methods and primary findings were all associated with the journal visibility and prestige.
In this cohort of published research, measures of reporting quality and appropriate statistical analysis were not associated with the number of citations. The journal in which a study is published appears to be as important as the statistical reporting quality in ensuring dissemination of published medical science.
引用次数常被视为已发表文章的利用率和贡献度的一种衡量指标。本研究的目的是评估主要结局分析中的统计报告和统计错误是否与所获得的引用次数相关。
我们评估了1996年在四种精神病学杂志上发表的所有原创研究文章。评估了每篇论文的统计和报告质量，并从科学引文索引数据库获取截至2005年所获得的引用次数。然后我们研究了引用次数是否与统计分析和报告的质量相关。
共有448篇研究论文纳入了引用分析。研究问题和主要结局的报告不清晰或不充分与引用次数无统计学显著关联。在对期刊进行校正后，对统计程序的详细描述对所获得的引用次数有积极影响。不恰当的统计分析并未影响所获得的引用次数。对主要研究问题、统计方法和主要发现的充分报告均与期刊知名度和声誉相关。
在这组已发表的研究中，报告质量指标和恰当的统计分析与引用次数无关。研究发表所在的期刊在确保已发表医学科学的传播方面似乎与统计报告质量同样重要。
