Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Author Spotlight: Evaluating the Adjuvant Efficacy and Safety of Angong Niuhuang Pill in Viral Encephalitis Treatment
Published on: April 19, 2024
Favorable and publicly funded studies are more likely to be published: a systematic review and meta-analysis
William J Canestaro1, Nathaniel Hendrix1, Aasthaa Bansal1
1University of Washington School of Pharmacy, 1959 Northeast Pacific Street, H362 Health Sciences Building, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the characteristics of studies associated with the likelihood of publication.
Study Design And Setting:
We searched for manuscripts that tracked cohorts of clinical studies ("cohorts") that from launch to publication. We explored the association of study characteristics with the probability of publication via traditional meta-analyses and meta-regression using random effects models.
Results:
The literature review identified 85 cohorts of studies that met our inclusion criteria. The probability of publication was significantly higher for studies whose characteristics were favorable (odds ratio [OR] = 2.04; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.62, 2.57) or statistically significant (OR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.52, 2.81), had a multicenter design (OR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.16, 1.45), and were of later regulatory phase (3/4 vs. 1/2, OR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.49). Industry funding was modestly associated with lower (OR = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.99) probability of publication. An exploratory analysis of effect modification revealed that the effect of the study characteristic "favorable results" on likelihood for publication was stronger for industry-funded studies.
Conclusion:
The study characteristics of favorable and significant results were associated with greater probability of publication.
Related Concept Videos
Bias
In statistics, a sampling bias is created when a sample is collected from a population, and some members of the population are not as likely to be chosen as others (remember, each member...
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Study Designs in Epidemiology
Observational studies are those where the researcher does not intervene but rather observes natural variations. They include cross-sectional, cohort, and...
Clinical Trials
There are four phases in a clinical trial. A phase one...
Hazard Ratio
For example, in a clinical trial...
Introduction to Epidemiology