Results of single studies must be assessed in context of relevant systematic reviews

EDITOR—Docherty and Smith invite comments on their proposal to structure the discussion section of original scientific papers.1 The proposal, although not new, does not go far enough to address the quality problems of contemporary published research.

The key element that is missing from the proposal is the explicit insistence that “reports of primary research should begin by referring, in the introduction, to the results of a systematically conducted, published review of the results of relevant previously reported studies, explaining why the current study was justified. The discussion section of the report should set the data generated by the …