February 2016

Editorial Board
Published in issue: February 2016
IFC

Table of Contents
Published in issue: February 2016
A3-A7

Editorial

Promoting transparency of research and data needs much more attention
• J. André Knottnerus,
• Peter Tugwell
Published in issue: February 2016
p1-3

Original Articles

Reporting and methodological qualities of published surgical meta-analyses
• Han Zhang,
• Jun Han,
• Ying-Bo Zhu,
• ...
• Meng-Chao Wu,
• Feng Shen,
• Tian Yang
Published online: June 24, 2015
p4-16

UK publicly funded Clinical Trials Units supported a controlled access approach to share individual participant data but highlighted concerns
• Carolyn Hopkins,
• Matthew Sydes,
• Gordon Murray,
• ...
• Mike Clarke,
• Paula Williamson,
• Catrin Tudur Smith
Published online: July 10, 2015
p17-25
Open Access

Changes to registration elements and results in a cohort of Clinicaltrials.gov trials were not reflected in published articles
• Shelly Pranić,
• Ana Marušić
Published online: July 28, 2015
p26-37
Twelve recommendations for integrating existing systematic reviews into new reviews: EPC guidance
• Karen A. Robinson,
• Roger Chou,
• Nancy D. Berkman,
• ...
• Rose Relevo,
• Jeanne-Marie Guise,
• Stephanie Chang
Published online: August 07, 2015
p38-44

Daily text messages used as a method for assessing low back pain among workers
• Lage Burström,
• Håkan Jonsson,
• Bodil Björ,
• ...
• Tohr Nilsson,
• Christina Reuterwall,
• Jens Wahlström
Published online: September 02, 2015
p45-51

The predictive validity of quality of evidence grades for the stability of effect estimates was low: a meta-epidemiological study
• Gerald Gartlehner,
• Andreea Dobrescu,
• Tammeka Swinson Evans,
• ...
• Kimberly Peterson,
• Christina Kien,
• Kathleen N. Lohr
Published online: September 02, 2015
p52-60

An international survey and modified Delphi approach revealed numerous rapid review methods
• Andrea C. Tricco,
• Wasifa Zarin,
• Jesmin Antony,
• ...
• David Moher,
• Diana Sherifali,
• Sharon E. Straus
Published online: August 29, 2015
p61-67

Extending the PRISMA statement to equity-focused systematic reviews (PRISMA-E 2012): explanation and elaboration
• Vivian Welch,
• Mark Petticrew,
• Jennifer Petkovic,
• ...
• Howard White,
• Peter Tugwell
• the PRISMA-Equity Bellagio group
Published online: September 05, 2015
p68-89
Open Access

An emotional functioning item bank of 24 items for computerized adaptive testing (CAT) was established
• Morten Aa. Petersen,
• Eva-Maria Gamper,
• Anna Costantini,
• ...
• Teresa Young,
• Mogens Groenvold
• on behalf of the EORTC Quality of Life Group
Published online: September 09, 2015
p90-100

Competing risk bias in Kaplan–Meier risk estimates can be corrected
• Carl van Walraven,
• Steven Hawken
Published online: August 28, 2015
p101-105
An algorithm was developed to assign GRADE levels of evidence to comparisons within systematic reviews
• Alex Pollock,
• Sybil E. Farmer,
• Marian C. Brady,
• ...
• Jan Mehrholz,
• Frederike van Wijck,
• Philip J. Wiffen
Published online: September 01, 2015
p106-110
Open Access
A number of factors explain why WHO guideline developers make strong recommendations inconsistent with GRADE guidance
• Paul E. Alexander,
• Michael R. Gionfriddo,
• Shelly-Anne Li,
• ...
• Holger J. Schünemann,
• Lehana Thabane,
• Gordon H. Guyatt
Published online: September 20, 2015
p111-122
Senior GRADE methodologists encounter challenges as part of WHO guideline development panels: an inductive content analysis
• Paul E. Alexander,
• Shelly-Anne Li,
• Michael R. Gionfriddo,
• ...
• Victor M. Montori,
• Holger J. Schünemann,
• Gordon H. Guyatt
Published online: September 15, 2015
p123-128

High statistical heterogeneity is more frequent in meta-analysis of continuous than binary outcomes
• Ana C. Alba,
• Paul E. Alexander,
• Joanne Chang,
• John MacIsaac,
• Samantha DeFry,
• Gordon H. Guyatt
Published online: September 17, 2015
p129-135
Barriers and facilitators perceived by physicians when using prediction models in practice
• Teus H. Kappen,
• Kim van Loon,
• Martinus A.M. Kappen,
• ...
• Wilton A. van Klei,
• Karel G.M. Moons,
• Cor J. Kalkman
Published online: September 20, 2015
p136-145
Open Access

Enriched administrative data can be used to retrospectively identify all known cases of primary subarachnoid hemorrhage
• Shane W. English,
• Lauralyn McIntyre,
• Dean Fergusson,
• ...
• John Sinclair,
• Alan Forster,
• Carl van Walraven
Published online: September 20, 2015
p146-154

Meta-analyses with industry involvement are massively published and report no caveats for antidepressants
• Shanil Ebrahim,
• Sheena Bance,
• Abha Athale,
• Cindy Malachowski,
• John P.A. Ioannidis
Published online: September 20, 2015
p155-163

Social network analysis identified central outcomes for core outcome sets using systematic reviews of HIV/AIDS
• Ian J. Saldanha,
• Tianjing Li,
• Cui Yang,
• Cesar Ugarte-Gil,
• George W. Rutherford,
• Kay Dickersin
Published online: September 22, 2015
p164-175

Registration practices for observational studies on ClinicalTrials.gov indicated low adherence
• Stefania Boccia,
• Kenneth J. Rothman,
• Nikola Panic,
• ...
• Paolo Boffetta,
• Walter Ricciardi,
• John P.A. Ioannidis
Published online: September 17, 2015
p176-182

Methods to place a value on additional evidence are illustrated using a case study of corticosteroids after traumatic brain injury
• Claire McKenna,
• Susan Griffin,
• Hendrik Koffijberg,
• Karl Claxton
Published online: September 17, 2015
p183-190
Open Access
Users identified challenges in applying GRADE to complex interventions and suggested an extension to GRADE
• Ani Movsisyan,
• G.J. Melendez-Torres,
• Paul Montgomery
Published online: September 17, 2015
p191-199

A newly developed tool for classifying study designs in systematic reviews of interventions and exposures showed substantial reliability and validity
• Hyun-Ju Seo,
• Soo Young Kim,
• Yoon Jae Lee,
• ...
• Ji-Eun Park,
• Seung-Soo Sheen,
• Seo Kyung Hahn
Published online: September 23, 2015
p200-205

A standardized approach to estimating survival statistics for population-based cystic fibrosis registry cohorts
• Jenna Sykes,
• Sanja Stanojevic,
• Christopher H. Goss,
• ...
• Aliza Fink,
• Alexander Elbert,
• Anne L. Stephenson
Published online: October 02, 2015
p206-213

Million Veteran Program: A mega-biobank to study genetic influences on health and disease
• John Michael Gaziano,
• John Concato,
• Mary Brophy,
• ...
• Sumitra Muralidhar,
• Ronald Przygodzki,
• Timothy J. O'Leary
Published online: October 03, 2015
p214-223
Open Access

Timely disclosure of progress in long-term cancer survival: the boomerang method substantially improved estimates in a comparative study
• Hermann Brenner,
• Lina Jansen
Published online: October 06, 2015
p224-232

Review Articles

Linguistic validation and reliability properties are weak investigated of most dementia-specific quality of life measurements—a systematic review
• Martin Nikolaus Dichter,
• Christian G.G. Schwab,
• Gabriele Meyer,
• Sabine Bartholomeyczik,
• Margareta Halek
Published online: August 26, 2015
p233-245

Significant discrepancies were found in pooled estimates of searching with Chinese indexes versus searching with English indexes
• Jing Xue,
• Wenhang Chen,
• Lizhang Chen,
• ...
• David Moher,
• Mark Walker,
• Shi Wu Wen
Published online: September 24, 2015
p246-253

Commentaries

Data and statistical commands should be routinely disclosed in order to promote greater transparency and accountability in clinical and behavioral research
• Robert West
Published online: July 08, 2015
p254-255
Open data are not enough to realize full transparency
• Lex M. Bouter
Published online: July 07, 2015
p256-257
Anticipating consequences of sharing raw data and code and of awarding badges for sharing
• John P.A. Ioannidis
Published online: July 07, 2015
p258-260
How do we make it easy and rewarding for researchers to share their data? A publisher's perspective
• Hylke Koers
Published online: July 07, 2015
p261-263
Navigating an open road
• Angela S. Attwood,
• Marcus R. Munafò
Published online: July 07, 2015
p264-266
Fixing flaws in science must be professionalized
• Ben Goldacre,
• Tracey Brown
Published online: July 03, 2015
p267-269
Research data as a global public good
• J. André Knottnerus
Published online: July 07, 2015
p270-271
Disclosure of data and statistical commands should accompany completely reported studies
• Larissa Shamseer,
• Jason Roberts
Published online: July 07, 2015
p272-274
How to promote transparency and accountability in clinical and behavioral research
• Daniel Kotz,
• Peter Tugwell,
• J. André Knottnerus
Published online: July 06, 2015
p275
The end of scientific articles as we know them?
• Robert West
Published online: July 07, 2015
p276

Letters to the Editor

Validation of surrogate end points for overall survival in advanced colorectal cancer: A harmonized approach is needed
• Oriana Ciani,
• Rod S. Taylor
Published online: September 05, 2015
p277-278
Validation of surrogate end points for overall survival in advanced colorectal cancer: further need for clarification
Letter to the editor on: Ciani et al., 2015, Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials show suboptimal validity of surrogate outcomes for overall survival in advanced colorectal cancer. 2015, J Clin Epidemiol 68:833–842.
• Christoph Schürmann,
• Beate Wieseler
Published online: September 05, 2015
p278-279
Comparative health and self-rated health are equivalently associated with health indicators among older adults
• Sunny Chen,
• Heather Whitson,
• Ana Quiñones,
• Stephen Thielke
Published online: September 17, 2015
p279-280

TREAT: tamper-resistant envelope allocation technique for a multisite study
• Jeanelle Sheeder,
• Rebecca A. Seale,
• Kim D. Weber Yorga
Published online: September 25, 2015
p280-283
Are not good practice statements necessarily based on evidence? Are their grades always strong?
• Joseph Watine
Published online: October 02, 2015
p283-284