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Review
. 2020 Nov;113(11):433-443.
doi: 10.1177/0141076820956799.

Reducing bias and improving transparency in medical research: a critical overview of the problems, progress and suggested next steps

Stephen H Bradley  1 , Nicholas J DeVito  2 , Kelly E Lloyd  1 , Georgia C Richards  2 , Tanja Rombey  3 , Cole Wayant  4 , Peter J Gill  5
Affiliations
Review

Reducing bias and improving transparency in medical research: a critical overview of the problems, progress and suggested next steps

Stephen H Bradley et al. J R Soc Med. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

In recent years there has been increasing awareness of problems that have undermined trust in medical research. This review outlines some of the most important issues including research culture, reporting biases, and statistical and methodological issues. It examines measures that have been instituted to address these problems and explores the success and limitations of these measures. The paper concludes by proposing three achievable actions which could be implemented to deliver significantly improved transparency and mitigation of bias. These measures are as follows: (1) mandatory registration of interests by those involved in research; (2) that journals support the 'registered reports' publication format; and (3) that comprehensive study documentation for all publicly funded research be made available on a World Health Organization research repository. We suggest that achieving such measures requires a broad-based campaign which mobilises public opinion. We invite readers to feedback on the proposed actions and to join us in calling for their implementation.

Keywords: Research and publication ethics; statistics and research methods.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: SHB is undertaking a PhD funded by the multi-institutional CanTest Collaborative, which is funded by Cancer Research UK (C8640/A23385). He is also employed as a General Practitioner and is a member of the executive committee of the Fabian Society, which is a think tank linked to the Labour Party. NJD is a doctoral student at the University of Oxford on a studentship from the Naji Foundation and has received grant support from the Fetzer Franklin Fund of the John E. Fetzer Memorial Trust. He has previously been employed as a researcher on grants from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, and the State Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program, and is currently employed on a grant from the Good Thinking Society. KEL is undertaking PhD research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. She is also an ambassador for the Centre for Open Science. GCR receives funding from the NHS National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research (SPCR), the Naji Foundation and the Rotary Foundation to study for a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. TR is undertaking doctoral research (no extramural funding) that deals with protocols for systematic reviews. CW is supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number F30CA243651. CW has no conflicts of interest to declare. PJG has received grant funding from the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Hospital for Sick Children and the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) in the past 5 years. He is on the editorial board of BMJ Evidence Based Medicine and on the Institute Advisory Board for the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health where he has expenses reimbursed to attend meetings. He is a member of the EBMLive Steering Committee, and he has expenses reimbursed to attend the conference. All of the authors have been involved in the development and promotion of Declaration to Improve Biomedical & Health Research.

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