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Meta‐research publications in dentistry: a review
Author(s) -
Faggion Clovis M.,
Listl Stefan,
Smits Kirsten P.J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/eos.12748
Subject(s) - data extraction , dental research , meta analysis , dentistry , medicine , original research , impact factor , medline , family medicine , orthodontics , library science , computer science , political science , law
The present scoping review has the objective of providing an overview of meta‐research in dentistry. A search of the PubMed database was performed for the period 11 October 2014 to 10 October 2019. Study selection and data extraction were performed independently by one author; prior to this, a random sample of 10% of the retrieved titles and abstracts were independently screened by two authors, achieving agreement of >80% on eligibility for initial inclusion, corresponding to good agreement. The following information was extracted from the full text of each article: meta‐research area of interest; study design; type of studies evaluated in the meta‐research; type of methodology used in assessment of the primary research; conflicts of interest reported; sponsorships reported; dental discipline; journal of publication; country of the first author; number of citations; and impact factor. A total of 7800 documents were initially retrieved. After analysis of the title/abstract and the full text of each article, and a snowballing procedure, 155 meta‐research studies were identified and included. The ‘methods’ and ‘reporting’ meta‐research areas were the most prevalent, with 73 (47%) and 61 (40%) studies, respectively. General dentistry, and orthodontics and dentofacial orthopaedics were the dental specialties with the greatest number/proportion of included studies with 45 (29%) and 28 (18%) studies, respectively. These findings may help to prioritize future meta‐research in dentistry, consequently avoiding unnessecary investigations, and increasing the value of oral and dental research.