scholarly journals Consistency of causal claims in observational studies: a review of papers published in a general medical journal

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e043339
Author(s):  
Camila Olarte Parra ◽  
Lorenzo Bertizzolo ◽  
Sara Schroter ◽  
Agnès Dechartres ◽  
Els Goetghebeur
Keyword(s):  
Medical Journal ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
General Medical Journal ◽  
Outcome Relationship ◽  
Causal Statement ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Published Research ◽  
Causal Language

ObjectiveTo evaluate the consistency of causal statements in observational studies published in The BMJ.DesignReview of observational studies published in a general medical journal.Data sourceCohort and other longitudinal studies describing an exposure-outcome relationship published in The BMJ in 2018. We also had access to the submitted papers and reviewer reports.Main outcome measuresProportion of published research papers with ‘inconsistent’ use of causal language. Papers where language was consistently causal or non-causal were classified as ‘consistently causal’ or ‘consistently not causal’, respectively. For the ‘inconsistent’ papers, we then compared the published and submitted version.ResultsOf 151 published research papers, 60 described eligible studies. Of these 60, we classified the causal language used as ‘consistently causal’ (48%), ‘inconsistent’ (20%) and ‘consistently not causal’(32%). Eleven out of 12 (92%) of the ‘inconsistent’ papers were already inconsistent on submission. The inconsistencies found in both submitted and published versions were mainly due to mismatches between objectives and conclusions. One section might be carefully phrased in terms of association while the other presented causal language. When identifying only an association, some authors jumped to recommending acting on the findings as if motivated by the evidence presented.ConclusionFurther guidance is necessary for authors on what constitutes a causal statement and how to justify or discuss assumptions involved. Based on screening these papers, we provide a list of expressions beyond the obvious ‘cause’ word which may inspire a useful more comprehensive compendium on causal language.

scholarly journals Use of causal claims in observational studies: a research on research study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Olarte Parra ◽  
Lorenzo Bertizzolo ◽  
Sara Schroter ◽  
Agnes Dechartres ◽  
Els Goetghebeur
Keyword(s):  
Observational Studies ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Research On Research ◽  
Outcome Relationship ◽  
Causal Statement ◽  
Published Research ◽  
Causal Language

Objective: To evaluate the consistency of causal statements in the abstracts of observational studies published in The BMJ. Design: Research on research study. Data source: All cohort or longitudinal studies describing an exposure-outcome relationship published in The BMJ during 2018. We also had access to the submitted papers and reviewer reports. Main outcome measures: Proportion of published research papers with 'inconsistent' use of causal language in the abstract. Papers where language was consistently causal or non-causal were classified as 'consistently causal' or 'consistently not causal', respectively; those where causality may be inferred were classified as 'suggests causal'. For the 'inconsistent' papers, we then compared the published and submitted version. Results: Of 151 published research papers, 60 described eligible studies. Of these 60, we classified the causal language used as 'consistently causal' (13%), 'suggests causal' (35%), 'inconsistent' (20%) and 'consistently not causal'(32%). The majority of the 'Inconsistent' papers (92%) were already inconsistent on submission. The inconsistencies found in both submitted and published versions was mainly due to mismatches between objectives and conclusions. One section might be carefully phrased in terms of association while the other presented causal language. When identifying only an association, some authors jumped to recommending acting on the findings as if motivated by the evidence presented. Conclusion: Further guidance is necessary for authors on what constitutes a causal statement and how to justify or discuss assumptions involved. Based on screening these abstracts, we provide a list of expressions beyond the obvious 'cause' word which may inspire a useful more comprehensive compendium on causal language.

scholarly journals Social-Epistemic Rhetoric of (Un)certainty in Biomedical and Psychiatric Scientific Academic Writing: a Diatextual Analysis

Human Arenas ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia Manuti ◽  
Giuseppe Mininni ◽  
Rosa Scardigno ◽  
Ignazio Grattagliano
Keyword(s):  
Medical Journal ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Epistemic Rhetoric

Abstract In line with the general aims of scientific textuality, research papers in the biomedical and psychiatric academic domains mostly attempt to demonstrate the validity of their assumptions and to contrast with the sense of uncertainty that sometimes frames their conclusions. Moving from this premise, the present paper aimed to focus on these features and to investigate if and the extent to which biomedical and psychiatric texts convey different social-epistemic rhetoric of uncertainty. In view of this, a qualitative study was conducted adopting diatextual analysis to investigate a corpus of 298 scientific articles taken from the British Medical Journal and from the British Journal of Psychiatry published in 2013. Our analytical approach led to identifying two different types of social-epistemic rhetoric. The first one was mostly oriented to “describing” the world, accounting for the body-mind nexus as conceptualized within the “medical” point of view. On the other hand, the second one was oriented to “interpreting” the world, debating the problematic and critical features of the body-mind relationship as developed within the psychiatry discursive realm.

Será que estamos precisando de uma lava jato científica?

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Antonio Marcos Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Journal ◽  
British Medical Journal ◽  
Evidence Based Medicine ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Plos Medicine ◽  
De Se ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
Published Research

Em 2005, o grego John Loannidis, professor da Universidade de Stanford, publicou um artigo na PLOS Medicine intitulado “Why most published research findings are false” [1]. Ele que é dos pioneiros da chamada “meta-ciência”, disciplina que analisa o trabalho de outros cientistas, avaliou se estão respeitando as regras fundamentais que definem a boa ciência. Esse trabalho foi visto com muito espanto e indignação por parte dos pesquisadores na época, pois colocava em xeque a credibilidade da ciência.Para muitos cientistas, isso acontece porque a forma de se produzir conhecimento ficou diferente, ao ponto que seria quase irreconhecível para os grandes gênios dos séculos passados. Antigamente, se analisavam os dados em estado bruto, os autores iam às academias reproduzir suas experiências diante de todos, mas agora isso se perdeu porque os estudos são baseados em seis milhões de folhas de dados. Outra questão importante que garantia a confiabilidade dos achados era que os cientistas, independentemente de suas titulações e da relevância de suas descobertas anteriores, tinham que demonstrar seus novos achados diante de seus pares que, por sua vez, as replicavam em seus laboratórios antes de dar credibilidade à nova descoberta. Contudo, na atualidade, essas garantias veem sendo esquecidas e com isso colocando em xeque a validade de muitos estudos na área de saúde.Preocupados com a baixa qualidade dos trabalhos atuais, um grupo de pesquisadores se reuniram em 2017 e construíram um documento manifesto que acabou de ser publicado no British Medical Journal “Evidence Based Medicine Manifesto for Better Health Care” [2]. O Documento é uma iniciativa para a melhoria da qualidade das evidências em saúde. Nele se discute as possíveis causas da pouca confiabilidade científica e são apresentadas algumas alternativas para a correção do atual cenário. Segundo seus autores, os problemas estão presentes nas diferentes fases da pesquisa:Fases da elaboração dos objetivos - Objetivos inúteis. Muito do que é produzido não tem impacto científico nem clínico. Isso porque os pesquisadores estão mais interessados em produzir um número grande de artigos do que gerar conhecimento. Quase 85% dos trabalhos não geram nenhum benefício direto a humanidade.Fase do delineamento do estudo - Estudos com amostras subdimensionados, que não previnem erros aleatórios. Métodos que não previnem erros sistemáticos (viés na escolha das amostras, falta de randomização correta, viés de confusão, desfechos muito abertos). Em torno de 35% dos pesquisadores assumem terem construídos seus métodos de maneira enviesada.Fase de análise dos dados - Trinta e cinco por cento dos pesquisadores assumem práticas inadequadas no momento de análise dos dados. Muitos assumem que durante esse processo realizam várias análises simultaneamente, e as que apresentam significância estatística são transformadas em objetivos no trabalho. As revistas também têm sua parcela de culpa nesse processo já que os trabalhos com resultados positivos são mais aceitos (2x mais) que trabalhos com resultados negativos.Fase de revisão do trabalho - Muitos revisores de saúde não foram treinados para reconhecer potenciais erros sistemáticos e aleatórios nos trabalhos.Em suma é necessário que pesquisadores e revistas científicas pensem nisso. Só assim, teremos evidências de maior qualidade, estimativas estatísticas adequadas, pensamento crítico e analítico desenvolvido e prevenção dos mais comuns vieses cognitivos do pensamento.

Kecakapan Hidup Abad Ke-21 dalam Tokoh Utama Dongeng Jawa Timur Kajian Antropologi Sastra

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Rian Damariswara
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Good Life ◽  
The Other ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Creativity And Innovation

ABSTRAKTokoh utama dalam dongeng Jawa Timur memiliki sisi lain yang perlu diungkap. Sisi lain tersebut, yakni kecakapan hidup yang dimiliki tokoh utama dalam menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapinya. Kecakapan hidup tersebut, memiliki relevansi dengan kecakapan hidup di abad ke-21. Jadi, dengan menganalisis kecakapan hidup tokoh utama secara otomatis peneliti dan pembaca dapat mengetahui bahwa tokoh-tokoh dongeng yang terdapat di Jawa Timur memiliki budaya hidup yang baik untuk dijadikan contoh dan motivasi.Untuk mengungkap kecakapan hidup abad ke-21 pada tokoh utama dongeng Jawa Timur menggunakan kajian antropologi sastra.Penelitian ini termasuk deskriptif kualitatif. Sumber data adalah teks dongeng Jawa Timur. Teknik yang digunakan adalah studi dokumenter. Kecakapan hidup abad ke-21 yang ditemukan pada dongeng Jawa Timur sebagai berikut. Pertama, berpikir kritis dan pemecahan masalah. Semua tokoh utama dalam dongeng memiliki pemikiran kritis sehingga dapat memecahkan masalah. Kedua, kreativitas dan inovasi yang ditemukan yakni jenis pengembangan dan sintesis. Inovasi pengembangan yang ditemukan adalah adanya alat bajak sawah dari batu menjadi kayu dan ditarik sapi serta dapat dipergunakan sebagai sarana hiburan. Alat tersebut diberi nama karapan sapi.  Inovasi sintesis adalah menggabungkan segala sesuatu yang dimiliki untuk dijadikan sesuatu yang baru. Seperti pada dongeng Asal Mula Reog Ponorogo,yakni menggabungkan kepala tokoh Singabarong dengan burung merak sehingga dinamakan reog ponorogo. Ketiga, kolaborasi antaranggota dan pemimpin dengan bawahan. Keempat, komunikasi yakni berupa diskusi, pengarahan, berkeluh kesah, dan perintah.Kata kunci: Kecakapan hidup abad ke-21, Tokoh utama, DongengABSTRACTThe main character in the East Java fable has another side that needs to be revealed. The other side, namely the life skills possessed by the main character in solving the problems they face. Life skills, have relevance to 21st century life skills. Therefore, by analyzing the life skills of the main characters automatically the researcher and reader can find out that the fairy tale figures in East Java which have a good life culture to be used as an example and motivation. To uncover 21st century life skills in the main characters of the East Javanese fable, the study of literary anthropology is used. This research is descriptive qualitative. The data source is the text of a fairy tale in East Java. The technique used is documentary study. The 21st century life skills found in the East Java fable are as follows. First, critical thinking and problem solving. All the main characters in fairy tales have critical thinking so they can solve problems. Second, the creativity and innovation found are types of development and synthesis. Development innovation that was found was the existence of a rice plow from stone to wood and pulled by cows and could be used as a means of entertainment. The tool is named Karapan Sapi. Synthesis of innovation is to combine everything that is owned to be something new. As in the fable of Reog Ponorogo, which combines the head of the Singabarong character with a peacock so it is called Reog Ponorogo. Third, collaboration between members and leaders with subordinates. Fourth, communication in the form of discussion, direction, complaints, and orders.Keyword: 21st century life skills, The main character, Fairy tale

scholarly journals Chitosan Adsorbent Derivatives for Pharmaceuticals Removal from Effluents: A Review

Macromol ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-154
Author(s):  
Efstathios V. Liakos ◽  
Maria Lazaridou ◽  
Georgia Michailidou ◽  
Ioanna Koumentakou ◽  
Dimitra A. Lambropoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Contaminants ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Ph Effects ◽  
Hydroxyl Groups ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Natural Polysaccharide ◽  
Best Fitting ◽  
Isotherm And Kinetic Models ◽  
Published Research

Chitin is mentioned as the second most abundant and important natural biopolymer in worldwide scale. The main sources for the extraction and exploitation of this natural polysaccharide polymer are crabs and shrimps. Chitosan (poly-β-(1 → 4)-2-amino-2-deoxy-d-glucose) is the most important derivative of chitin and can be used in a wide variety of applications including cosmetics, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, food, etc., giving this substance high value-added applications. Moreover, chitosan has applications in adsorption because it contains amino and hydroxyl groups in its molecules, and can thus contribute to many possible adsorption interactions between chitosan and pollutants (pharmaceuticals/drugs, metals, phenols, pesticides, etc.). However, it must be noted that one of the most important techniques of decontamination is considered to be adsorption because it is simple, low-cost, and fast. This review emphasizes on recently published research papers (2013–2021) and briefly describes the chemical modifications of chitosan (grafting, cross-linking, etc.), for the adsorption of a variety of emerging contaminants from aqueous solutions, and characterization results. Finally, tables are depicted from selected chitosan synthetic routes and the pH effects are discussed, along with the best-fitting isotherm and kinetic models.

Investigation of solution techniques of unit commitment problems: A review

2021 ◽  
pp. 0309524X2199244
Author(s):  
Vineet Kumar ◽  
Ram Naresh ◽  
Amita Singh
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Unit Commitment ◽  
Operational Planning ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Subsequent Step ◽  
Commitment Problems ◽  
Published Research

The Unit Commitment (UC) is a significant act of optimization in day-to-day operational planning of modern power systems. After load forecasting, UC is the subsequent step in the planning process. The electric utilities decide in advance which units are to start-up, when to connect them to the network, the sequence in which the generating units should be shut down and for how long. In view of the above, this paper attempts on presenting a thorough and precise review of the recent approaches applied in optimizing UC problems, incorporating both stochastic and deterministic loads, based on various peer reviewed published research papers of reputed journals. It emphasizes on non-conventional energy and distributed power generating systems along with deregulated and regulated environment. Along with an overview, a comprehensive analysis of the UC algorithms reported in the recent past since 2015 has been discussed for the assistance of new researchers concerned with this domain.

scholarly journals What people study when they study Tumblr

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 528-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Attu ◽  
Melissa Terras
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Form ◽  
Media Research ◽  
Access To Data ◽  
Social Networking Website ◽  
Conference Papers ◽  
Published Research ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Since its launch in 2007, research has been carried out on the popular social networking website Tumblr. The purpose of this paper is to identify published Tumblr-based research, classify it to understand approaches and methods, and provide methodological recommendations for others. Design/methodology/approach Research regarding Tumblr was identified. Following a review of the literature, a classification scheme was adapted and applied, to understand research focus. Papers were quantitatively classified using open coded content analysis of method, subject, approach, and topic. Findings The majority of published work relating to Tumblr concentrates on conceptual issues, followed by aspects of the messages sent. This has evolved over time. Perceived benefits are the platform’s long-form text posts, ability to track tags, and the multimodal nature of the platform. Severe research limitations are caused by the lack of demographic, geo-spatial, and temporal metadata attached to individual posts, the limited Advanced Programming Interface, restricted access to data, and the large amounts of ephemeral posts on the site. Research limitations/implications This study focusses on Tumblr: the applicability of the approach to other media is not considered. The authors focus on published research and conference papers: there will be book content which was not found using the method. Tumblr as a platform has falling user numbers which may be of concern to researchers. Practical implications The authors identify practical barriers to research on the Tumblr platform including lack of metadata and access to big data, explaining why Tumblr is not as popular as Twitter in academic studies. Social implications This paper highlights the breadth of topics covered by social media researchers, which allows us to understand popular online platforms. Originality/value There has not yet been an overarching study to look at the methods and purpose of those who study Tumblr. The authors identify Tumblr-related research papers from the first appearing in 2011 July until 2015 July. The classification derived here provides a framework that can be used to analyse social media research, and in which to position Tumblr-related work, with recommendations on benefits and limitations of the platform for researchers.

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