Common statistical and research design problems in manuscripts submitted to high-impact psychiatry journals: what editors and reviewers want authors to know.
OBJECTIVE
Journal editors and statistical reviewers are often in the difficult position of catching serious problems in submitted manuscripts after the research is conducted and data have been analyzed. We sought to learn from editors and reviewers of major psychiatry journals what common statistical and design problems they most often find in submitted manuscripts and what they wished to communicate to authors regarding these issues. Our primary goal was to facilitate communication between journal editors/reviewers and researchers/authors and thereby improve the scientific and statistical quality of research and submitted manuscripts.


METHODS
Editors and statistical reviewers of 54 high-impact psychiatry journals were surveyed to learn what statistical or design problems they encounter most often in submitted manuscripts. Respondents completed the survey online. The authors analyzed survey text responses using content analysis procedures to identify major themes related to commonly encountered statistical or research design problems.


RESULTS
Editors and reviewers (n=15) who handle manuscripts from 39 different high-impact psychiatry journals responded to the survey. The most commonly cited problems regarded failure to map statistical models onto research questions, improper handling of missing data, not controlling for multiple comparisons, not understanding the difference between equivalence and difference trials, and poor controls in quasi-experimental designs.


CONCLUSIONS
The scientific quality of psychiatry research and submitted reports could be greatly improved if researchers became sensitive to, or sought consultation on frequently encountered methodological and analytic issues.
Center for Health Care Evaluation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University School of Medicine, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. Alexander.Harris2@va.gov
Alex H S
AH
Harris
Rachelle
R
Reeder
Jenny K
JK
Hyun
D001319:Authorship; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000592:standards*; D035081:Editorial Policies; D006801:Humans; D018156:Journalism, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D010380:Peer Review; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data