How Literate Is the Literature?

Pet ideas in the research literature die a slow death, despite a dearth of evidence.

With an explosion of research in so many areas, we rely increasingly on meta-analyses and critical reviews of multiple studies. In psychiatry, there have been repeated reviews of the suggested link between the short (s) allele of the serotonin transporter promoter (5-HTTLPR) and negative emotionality (e.g., NEJM JW Psychiatry Jun 2011 and Biol Psychiatry 2011; 69:520), the original report of which has been cited more than 1000 times. These Dutch investigators analyzed published data on this suggested association to see how these articles are subsequently cited.

Studies that appear to support the association were cited much more frequently in subsequent publications than negative studies. Furthermore, even negative studies tended to emphasize…

Reviewing Author

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

How Literate Is the Literature?

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Reviewing Author