A randomized trial of an editorial intervention to reduce spin in the abstract’s conclusion of manuscripts showed no significant effect
Mona Ghannad; Bada Yang; Mariska Leeflang; Adrian Aldcroft; Patrick M. Bossuyt; Sara Schroter; Isabelle Boutron · 2020 · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
WASTE classifies this as Negative / Null Result Report · AI classification, approximate
The study found no significant effect — useful as a negative control or null benchmark for your own design.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of an intervention compared to the usual peer-review process on reducing spin in the abstract's conclusion of biomedical study reports. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a two-arm, parallel-group RCT in a sample of primary research manuscripts submitted to BMJ Open. The authors received short instructions alongside the peer reviewers' comments in the intervention group. We assessed the presence of spin (primary outcome), types of spin, and wording change in the revised abstract's conclusion. Outcome assessors were blinded to the intervention assignment. R
Abstract by Mona Ghannad; Bada Yang; Mariska Leeflang; Adrian Aldcroft; Patrick M. Bossuyt; Sara Schroter; Isabelle Boutron, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology (2020) — licensed CC BY 4.0.
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Metadata source: OpenAlex · DOI 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2020.10.014