Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

November 6, 2020

Scientific Quality of COVID-19 and SARS CoV-2 Publications in the Highest Impact Medical Journals during the Early Phase of the Pandemic: A Case Control Study

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  • The scientific quality of COVID-19 publications in the three highest ranked scientific medical journals (NEJM, JAMA, and The Lancet) was below the quality average of these journals for non-COVID-19 research. Among 155 COVID-19 studies and 130 non-COVID-19 studies included in the analysis, the non-COVID-19 publications had higher levels of evidence as defined by the level of evidence pyramid. The COVID-19 publications had an 18-times higher odds of be of lower evidence quality. The quantitative quality score was significantly higher for non-COVID-19 studies (mean difference 11.1). [EDITORIAL NOTE: In the interest of highlighting examples of a lower quality of COVID-9 related publications, it should be noted that the analysis described in this article uses a cohort study design rather than a case-control design, as indicated by the authors.]

Zdravkovic et al. (Nov 5, 2020). Scientific Quality of COVID-19 and SARS CoV-2 Publications in the Highest Impact Medical Journals during the Early Phase of the Pandemic: A Case Control Study. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241826