Chapter 5 – Investigating and Dealing with Publication Bias and Other Reporting Biases

Matthew J. Page, Jonathan A.C. Sterne, Julian P.T. Higgins, Matthias Egger

Abstract

A p value, or the magnitude or direction of results, can influence decisions about whether, when, and how research findings are disseminated. Regardless of whether an entire study or a particular study result is unavailable because investigators considered the results to be unfavorable, reporting bias in a meta-analysis may occur when available results differ systematically from missing results. This reinforces the need for review authors to search or consult multiple sources that include bibliographic databases, trials registers, manufacturers, regulators, and study authors or sponsors where or through whom study reports and results may be located. Unless prospective approaches to meta-analysis can eliminate the potential for bias due to missing results, review authors should formally assess the risk of bias in their review. Several approaches can facilitate such assessment: tools to record selective reporting of results, ascertaining qualitative signals that suggest not all studies were identified, and the use of funnel plots to identify small-study effects, one cause of which is reporting bias.

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Author affiliations

Matthew J. Page

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Julian P.T. Higgins

Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
National Institute of Health Research, Applied Research Collaboration West, University Hospital Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK

Jonathan A.C. Sterne

Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Matthias Egger

Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Centre for Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology and Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa

How to cite this chapter?

For the printed version of the book

Page, M.J., Sterne, J.A.C., Higgins, J.P.T. and Egger, M. (2022). Chapter 5. Investigating and dealing with publication bias and other reporting biases. In: Systematic Reviews in Health Research: Meta-analysis in Context (eds M. Egger, J.P.T. Higgins and G. Davey Smith), pp 74-90. Hoboken, NJ : Wiley.