Transparent and Reproducible Research Practices in the Surgical Literature

Bryan Taylor Hughes, Andrew Niemann, Daniel Tritz, Kryston Boyer, Hal Robbins, Matt Vassar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Introduction: Previous studies have established a baseline of minimal reproducibility in the social science and biomedical literature. Clinical research is especially deficient in factors of reproducibility. Surgical journals contain fewer clinical trials than non-surgical areas of medicine, suggesting that it should be easier to reproduce the outcomes of surgical literature. Methods: In this study, we evaluated a broad range of indicators related to transparency and reproducibility in a random sample of 387 articles published in Surgery journals between 2014 and 2018. Results: A small minority of our sample made available their materials (5.3%, 95% C.I. 2.4%-8.2%), protocols (1.2%, 0-2.5%), data (2.5%, 0.7%-4.2%), or analysis scripts (0.04%). Four studies were adequately pre-registered. No studies were explicit replications of previous literature. Most studies (58%), declined to provide a funding statement, while conflicts of interest were declared in a small fraction (9.3%). Most have not been cited by systematic reviews (83%) or meta-analyses (87%), and most were only accessible to paying subscribers (59%). Conclusions: The transparency of the surgical literature could improve with adherence to baseline standards of reproducibility.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)116-124
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Surgical Research
Volume274
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2022

Keywords

  • Clinical trials
  • general surgery
  • Reproducibility
  • Transparency

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