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  • Vinkers, C. H., Lamberink, H. J., Tijdink, J. K., Heus, P., Bouter, L., Glasziou, P., Moher, D., Damen, J. A., Hooft, L., & Otte, W. M. (2021). The methodological quality of 176,620 randomized controlled trials published between 1966 and 2018 reveals a positive trend but also an urgent need for improvement. PLOS Biology, 19(4), e3001162. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001162

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    Mangtani, P., Abubakar, I., Ariti, C., Beynon, R., Pimpin, L., Fine, P. E. M., Rodrigues, L. C., Smith, P. G., Lipman, M., Whiting, P. F., & Sterne, J. A. (2014). Protection by BCG Vaccine Against Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 58(4), 470–480. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/cit790

  • Holland, P. W. (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 81(396), 945–960. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1986.10478354
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  • Although these procedures are also used outside of medicine, it can be difficult to apply them elsewhere. For example, in a trial that tests the effectiveness of talking therapy, it would be known to the participants that they are receiving it; it may not be possible to find a placebo control version to disguise the procedure. Due to constraints in length and focus, I will not detail the advantages of intention-to-treat analysis or experimentation.

  • Whiteford, H. A., Harris, M. G., McKeon, G., Baxter, A., Pennell, C., Barendregt, J. J., & Wang, J. (2013). Estimating remission from untreated major depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 43(8), 1569–1585. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291712001717

  • Hróbjartsson, A., & Gøtzsche, P. C. (2010). Placebo interventions for all clinical conditions. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003974.pub3  
    Hróbjartsson, A., & Gøtzsche, P. C. (2001). Is the Placebo Powerless?: An Analysis of Clinical Trials Comparing Placebo with No Treatment. New England Journal of Medicine, 344(21), 1594–1602. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM200105243442106

  • Hróbjartsson, A., & Gøtzsche, P. C. (2010). Placebo interventions for all clinical conditions. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003974.pub3  
    Hróbjartsson, A., & Gøtzsche, P. C. (2001). Is the Placebo Powerless?: An Analysis of Clinical Trials Comparing Placebo with No Treatment. New England Journal of Medicine, 344(21), 1594–1602. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM200105243442106

  • Orkaby, A. R., Gaziano, J. M., Djousse, L., & Driver, J. A. (2017). Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events and Mortality in Older Men. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 65(11), 2362–2368. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14993
    Makihara, N., Kamouchi, M., Hata, J., Matsuo, R., Ago, T., Kuroda, J., Kuwashiro, T., Sugimori, H., & Kitazono, T. (2013). Statins and the risks of stroke recurrence and death after ischemic stroke: The Fukuoka Stroke Registry. Atherosclerosis, 231(2), 211–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2013.09.017
    Ní Chróinín, D., Asplund, K., Åsberg, S., Callaly, E., Cuadrado-Godia, E., Díez-Tejedor, E., Di Napoli, M., Engelter, S. T., Furie, K. L., Giannopoulos, S., Gotto, A. M., Hannon, N., Jonsson, F., Kapral, M. K., Martí-Fàbregas, J., Martínez-Sánchez, P., Milionis, H. J., Montaner, J., Muscari, A., … Kelly, P. J. (2013). Statin Therapy and Outcome After Ischemic Stroke: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies and Randomized Trials. Stroke, 44(2), 448–456. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.668277

  • Cinelli, C., Forney, A., & Pearl, J. (2020). A crash course in good and bad controls. Available at SSRN, 3689437: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3689437

  • Aronow, P., Robins, J. M., Saarinen, T., Sävje, F., & Sekhon, J. (2021). Nonparametric identification is not enough, but randomized controlled trials are. ArXiv Preprint ArXiv:2108.11342.

  • Higgins, J. P. T., Altman, D. G., Gotzsche, P. C., Juni, P., Moher, D., Oxman, A. D., Savovic, J., Schulz, K. F., Weeks, L., Sterne, J. A. C., Cochrane Bias Methods Group, & Cochrane Statistical Methods Group. (2011). The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials. BMJ, 343(oct18 2), d5928–d5928. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d5928

  • Schulz, K. F., Chalmers, I., & Altman, D. G. (2002). The Landscape and Lexicon of Blinding in Randomized Trials. Annals of Internal Medicine, 136(3), 254. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-136-3-200202050-00022

  • Saltaji, H. et al. Influence of blinding on treatment effect size estimate in randomized controlled trials of oral health interventions. BMC Med Res Methodol 18, 42 (2018).

  • Dickersin, K., & Rennie, D. (2012). The evolution of trial registries and their use to assess the clinical trial enterprise. Jama, 307(17), 1861–1864.

  • Kaplan, R. M., & Irvin, V. L. (2015). Likelihood of Null Effects of Large NHLBI Clinical Trials Has Increased over Time. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0132382. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132382

  • Dickersin, K., & Rennie, D. (2012). The evolution of trial registries and their use to assess the clinical trial enterprise. Jama, 307(17), 1861–1864. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.4230

  • DeVito, N. J., & Goldacre, B. (2021). Evaluation of Compliance With Legal Requirements Under the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 for Timely Registration of Clinical Trials, Data Verification, Delayed Reporting, and Trial Document Submission. JAMA Internal Medicine, 181(8), 1128. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.2036

  • Note: Data is shown until January 2021 for trials. After the UK left the European Union in January 2021, clinical trials in the UK were then no longer required to report their results to the EU-CTR. Only data from trials by non-commercial sponsors is shown. This includes trials sponsored by institutions such as universities, hospitals, research foundations and so on.
    Dal-Ré, R., Goldacre, B., Mahillo-Fernández, I., & DeVito, N. J. (2021). European non-commercial sponsors showed substantial variation in results reporting to the EU trial registry. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, S0895435621003577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.11.005

  • Dal-Ré, R., Goldacre, B., Mahillo-Fernández, I., & DeVito, N. J. (2021). European non-commercial sponsors showed substantial variation in results reporting to the EU trial registry. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, S0895435621003577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.11.005

  • Chambers, C., & Tzavella, L. (2020). The past, present, and future of Registered Reports.

  • Wendler, D. The Ethics of Clinical Research. in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (ed. Zalta, E. N.) (Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2021).
    London, A. J. Equipoise in Research: Integrating Ethics and Science in Human Research. JAMA 317, 525 (2017).

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