title: Statistical methods for dealing with publication bias in meta-analysis.
abstract: Publication bias is an inevitable problem in the systematic review and meta-analysis. It is also one of the main threats to the validity of meta-analysis. Although several statistical methods have been developed to detect and adjust for the publication bias since the beginning of 1980s, some of them are not well known and are not being used properly in both the statistical and clinical literature. In this paper, we provided a critical and extensive discussion on the methods for dealing with publication bias, including statistical principles, implementation, and software, as well as the advantages and limitations of these methods. We illustrated a practical application of these methods in a meta-analysis of continuous support for women during childbirth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, Second Military Medical University, No. 800 Xiangyin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Chao
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Xiao-Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D015982:Bias; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D017594:Publication Bias / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012196:Review Literature as Topic
keywords: funnel plots; meta-analysis; publication bias