Determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer: a citation analysis
Objectives Epidemiological research on the association between diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer risk has some methodological challenges that give rise to different conclusions and intense debates. This raises the question about the role of selective citation and of citation bias in particular...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2020-10-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e033967.full |
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| author | Bram Duyx Miriam J E Urlings Gerard M H Swaen Lex M Bouter Maurice P Zeegers |
| author_facet | Bram Duyx Miriam J E Urlings Gerard M H Swaen Lex M Bouter Maurice P Zeegers |
| author_sort | Bram Duyx |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives Epidemiological research on the association between diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer risk has some methodological challenges that give rise to different conclusions and intense debates. This raises the question about the role of selective citation and of citation bias in particular. Our aim was to investigate the occurrence and prevalence of selective citation in this field.Design Citation analysis.Setting Web of Science Core Collection.Participants We identified 96 publications in this network, with 4317 potential citations. For each publication, we extracted characteristics such as study conclusion and funding source. Some of these characteristics are related to the study content: study design, sample size, method of diesel exposure assessment, type of diesel technology under investigation, and whether smoking had been adjusted for.Primary and secondary outcome measures Whether a citation occurs or not, measured and analysed according to the preregistered protocol. Exploratively we analysed the association between funding source and study conclusion.Results Methodological content of a study was clearly related to citation, studies using more sophisticated methods were more likely to be cited. There was some evidence for citation bias: supportive publications had a higher chance of being cited than non-supportive ones, but after adjustment for study quality, this effect decreased substantially (adjusted OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.7). Explorative analyses indicated that three quarters of non-profit funded publications had a supportive study conclusion against only one quarter of the industry-funded publications.Conclusions There is evidence for selective citation within this field, but the evidence for citation bias was weak. It seems that factors related to the methodology had more impact on citation than the conclusion of a study. Interestingly, publications that were funded by industry were more skeptical about a causal relationship between diesel exhaust and lung cancer compared to non-profit-funded publications. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-df96c9c4d594482ea91367cfa5879e30 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-df96c9c4d594482ea91367cfa5879e302024-11-16T11:05:11ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552020-10-01101010.1136/bmjopen-2019-033967Determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer: a citation analysisBram Duyx0Miriam J E Urlings1Gerard M H Swaen2Lex M Bouter3Maurice P Zeegers4CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg, The NetherlandsCAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg, The NetherlandsCAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg, The NetherlandsDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistic, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Location VUmc, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The NetherlandsCare and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The NetherlandsObjectives Epidemiological research on the association between diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer risk has some methodological challenges that give rise to different conclusions and intense debates. This raises the question about the role of selective citation and of citation bias in particular. Our aim was to investigate the occurrence and prevalence of selective citation in this field.Design Citation analysis.Setting Web of Science Core Collection.Participants We identified 96 publications in this network, with 4317 potential citations. For each publication, we extracted characteristics such as study conclusion and funding source. Some of these characteristics are related to the study content: study design, sample size, method of diesel exposure assessment, type of diesel technology under investigation, and whether smoking had been adjusted for.Primary and secondary outcome measures Whether a citation occurs or not, measured and analysed according to the preregistered protocol. Exploratively we analysed the association between funding source and study conclusion.Results Methodological content of a study was clearly related to citation, studies using more sophisticated methods were more likely to be cited. There was some evidence for citation bias: supportive publications had a higher chance of being cited than non-supportive ones, but after adjustment for study quality, this effect decreased substantially (adjusted OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.7). Explorative analyses indicated that three quarters of non-profit funded publications had a supportive study conclusion against only one quarter of the industry-funded publications.Conclusions There is evidence for selective citation within this field, but the evidence for citation bias was weak. It seems that factors related to the methodology had more impact on citation than the conclusion of a study. Interestingly, publications that were funded by industry were more skeptical about a causal relationship between diesel exhaust and lung cancer compared to non-profit-funded publications.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e033967.full |
| spellingShingle | Bram Duyx Miriam J E Urlings Gerard M H Swaen Lex M Bouter Maurice P Zeegers Determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer: a citation analysis BMJ Open |
| title | Determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer: a citation analysis |
| title_full | Determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer: a citation analysis |
| title_fullStr | Determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer: a citation analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer: a citation analysis |
| title_short | Determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer: a citation analysis |
| title_sort | determinants of citation in the literature on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer a citation analysis |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e033967.full |
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