BMJ  2006;333:1072-1073 (18 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.39030.732917.3A

Letters

Authors' reply on Cochrane reviews v industry supported meta-analyses

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Tostad and Deeks are concerned about the impact of space restrictions on our findings.^{1 2 3} Firstly, we believe space restrictions should not be an excuse for omitting important details on the methods used, as it is the authors who decide what to report within any given space, and as many journals allow additional material on the web. Secondly, our research reflects what is available to the readers, and not what could have been available, and it is therefore valid from a pragmatic perspective. If relevant details are not reported—for example, methods used to ensure adequate allocation concealment and blinding—readers may be unable to make their own assessments and conclusions, which may be different from those of the authors. Thirdly, we found several additional interesting differences between Cochrane reviews and other meta-analyses as well as those related to methods.

Deeks mentions that reservations were made in his industry supported review. That is . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark , ² Department of Biostatistics, Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen

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