Technological advances in preclinical meta-research
Open Access
- 26 July 2021
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Portico in BMJ Open Science
- Vol. 5 (1), e100131
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjos-2020-100131
Abstract
Metaresearch is a scientific field involving the study of research itself. It has been applied to clinical trials since the 1980s,1 but has only become an emerging discipline over the last decade in the preclinical field. The primary tool of metaresearch is the systematic review, which uses predefined methods to provide a transparent and comprehensive summary of the evidence relating to a research question. A systematic review is defined as ‘a review that uses explicit, systematic methods to collate and synthesize findings of studies that address a clearly formulated question’.2 Systematic reviews allow for evaluation of methods and comprehensiveness of reporting, to assay likelihood of reproducibility and potential for translatability to subsequent domains of research and can investigate the impact of incentives on primary research. This, in turn, allows for a more rigorous understanding of what makes research reliable, and how research can be improved,3 while driving evidence-based decisions for future research.4 5Keywords
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