Beware ‘persuasive communication devices’ when writing and reading scientific articles

Corneille, Olivier; Havemann, Jo; Henderson, Emma; IJzerman, Hans; Hussey, Ian; Xivry, Jean-Jacques Orban de; Jussim, Lee; Holmes, Nicholas P.; Pilacinski, Artur; Beffara, Brice; Carroll, Harriet; Outa, Nicholas; Lush, Peter; Lotter, Leon D.

doi:10.7554/elife.88654

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…Our NMA will clearly define the types of acupuncture therapies included and their combined use to fully evaluate their effectiveness in the management of PS, which will be more persuasive. 37 To the best of our knowledge, this study will be the first standard pairwise meta-analysis and NMA of acupuncture therapies for the treatment of PS. Despite these limitations, our proposed methodology will compare the efficacies of different acupuncture methods in the treatment of PS, so as to provide a clinical evidence-based medical basis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture Methods for Piriformis Syndrome: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

He¹,

Miao²,

Fan³

et al. 2023

JPR

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Background Piriformis syndrome (PS) is a common disease that is difficult to clinically treat, which seriously affects people’s health and living quality. Multiple clinical studies have demonstrated that acupuncture therapy is an effective treatment for PS, but the optimal method of various acupuncture methods has remained unknown. The aim of this study protocol is to compare the efficacy and the safety of different acupuncture methods for PS. Methods We will search seven electronic bibliographic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Chongqing VIP Database) from inception to June 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will be selected for assessing the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy on PS. Primary outcome measure for this study is pain intensity, and the secondary outcomes are clinical symptoms and signs, physical activity, effective rate, and adverse events. Study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment will be independently completed by at least two reviewers. Then, standard pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis will be conducted using Revman 5.3, Stata V.15.1 and OpenBUGS V.3.2.3. The heterogeneity will be explored by subgroup, meta-regression, and sensitivity analysis, if applicable. Finally, Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) pro system will be used to evaluate the quality of evidence. Results Our systematic review and network meta-analysis will identify the best acupuncture treatment method for PS patients. Conclusion The results of our review will help decision-makers make educated choices regarding evidence-based acupuncture management options for PS. Prospero Registration Number No. CRD42022335028.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture Methods for Piriformis Syndrome: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

He¹,

Miao²,

Fan³

et al. 2023

JPR

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“…An estimated 38% of short articles in social and personality psychology seem to ignore limitations altogether (Clarke et al, 2023). Articles that do acknowledge limitations often do not own those limitations, with authors frequently noting a limitation and then proceeding to either: i) justify the limitation, for example, on the basis of limited resources, or by stating that the limitation is common in the field; or, ii) dismiss the importance of their limitation (particularly by discussing how their limitation is actually a strength; Lingard, 2015; also see Corneille et al, 2023).…”

Section: Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking Our Limitations in the Eye: A Call for More Thorough and Honest Reporting of Study Limitations

Clarke,

Alley,

Ghai

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Limitations are an inherent part of the research process. Looking these limitations in the eye is no easy task, but it is important if the field of psychology wishes to be considered a credible science. Current practices for reporting limitations in psychology leave much room for improvement. Concrete guidance for discussing specific limitations is lacking. The aim of this tutorial is to enable psychology researchers to “own” their research limitations (inspired by Whitcomb et al., 2017). We provide general recommendations, such as the ‘steel-person principle’ (reflecting on what the best argument is against your conclusions), and specific advice for different types of limitations. We assembled a team with expertise in assessing various aspects of validity, and structured this tutorial around recommendations for discussing common threats to construct, internal, external, and statistical conclusion validity (Shadish et al., 2002). Our goal is to prompt psychologists to write more deeply and clearly about the limitations of their research, and to hold each other to higher standards when reviewing each other’s work. A major limitation of this tutorial is that our advice risks being applied formulaically, and as a substitute for critical thinking about limitations. Further, this tutorial should not replace efforts to prevent or reduce research limitations in the first place. Instead, readers should use this tutorial as a starting point for reflecting on their limitations which should be thoughtfully incorporated in all relevant conclusions throughout their paper.

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“…Similarly, failure to flag the influence of specific methodological choices can mislead as to the true significance (statistical and otherwise) of the findings 9 . The use of persuasive communication devices, such as mischaracterising the theoretical framework or the current state of knowledge in the area, can give a false impression of the reliability and consistency of relevant evidence bases 10 . A contemporary emphasis on the need for published work to have demonstrable impact beyond the immediate research arena can compound such problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impression management in sex and gender neuroscience research reporting: the MAGIC guidelines

Rippon,

Losse,

White

2024

Nat Commun

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Beware ‘persuasive communication devices’ when writing and reading scientific articles

Cited by 13 publications

References 21 publications

Acupuncture Methods for Piriformis Syndrome: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Acupuncture Methods for Piriformis Syndrome: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Looking Our Limitations in the Eye: A Call for More Thorough and Honest Reporting of Study Limitations

Impression management in sex and gender neuroscience research reporting: the MAGIC guidelines

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