The Quality of Statistical Reporting and Data Presentation in Predatory Dental Journals Was Lower Than in Non-Predatory Journals
Proper peer review and quality of published articles are often regarded as signs of reliable scientific journals. The aim of this study was to compare whether the quality of statistical reporting and data presentation differs among articles published in ‘predatory dental journals’ and in other denta...
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doaj-1cbf9d55eea1489d91533b942dcb03212021-04-16T23:00:21ZengMDPI AGEntropy1099-43002021-04-012346846810.3390/e23040468The Quality of Statistical Reporting and Data Presentation in Predatory Dental Journals Was Lower Than in Non-Predatory JournalsPentti Nieminen0Sergio E. Uribe1Medical Informatics and Data Analysis Research Group, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, FinlandDepartment of Conservative Dentistry and Oral Health, Riga Stradins University, LV-1007 Riga, LatviaProper peer review and quality of published articles are often regarded as signs of reliable scientific journals. The aim of this study was to compare whether the quality of statistical reporting and data presentation differs among articles published in ‘predatory dental journals’ and in other dental journals. We evaluated 50 articles published in ‘predatory open access (OA) journals’ and 100 clinical trials published in legitimate dental journals between 2019 and 2020. The quality of statistical reporting and data presentation of each paper was assessed on a scale from 0 (poor) to 10 (high). The mean (SD) quality score of the statistical reporting and data presentation was 2.5 (1.4) for the predatory OA journals, 4.8 (1.8) for the legitimate OA journals, and 5.6 (1.8) for the more visible dental journals. The mean values differed significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The quality of statistical reporting of clinical studies published in predatory journals was found to be lower than in open access and highly cited journals. This difference in quality is a wake-up call to consume study results critically. Poor statistical reporting indicates wider general lower quality in publications where the authors and journals are less likely to be critiqued by peer review.https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/23/4/468meta-researchdental researchpublicationsstatistical reportingdata presentation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Pentti Nieminen Sergio E. Uribe |
spellingShingle |
Pentti Nieminen Sergio E. Uribe The Quality of Statistical Reporting and Data Presentation in Predatory Dental Journals Was Lower Than in Non-Predatory Journals Entropy meta-research dental research publications statistical reporting data presentation |
author_facet |
Pentti Nieminen Sergio E. Uribe |
author_sort |
Pentti Nieminen |
title |
The Quality of Statistical Reporting and Data Presentation in Predatory Dental Journals Was Lower Than in Non-Predatory Journals |
title_short |
The Quality of Statistical Reporting and Data Presentation in Predatory Dental Journals Was Lower Than in Non-Predatory Journals |
title_full |
The Quality of Statistical Reporting and Data Presentation in Predatory Dental Journals Was Lower Than in Non-Predatory Journals |
title_fullStr |
The Quality of Statistical Reporting and Data Presentation in Predatory Dental Journals Was Lower Than in Non-Predatory Journals |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Quality of Statistical Reporting and Data Presentation in Predatory Dental Journals Was Lower Than in Non-Predatory Journals |
title_sort |
quality of statistical reporting and data presentation in predatory dental journals was lower than in non-predatory journals |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Entropy |
issn |
1099-4300 |
publishDate |
2021-04-01 |
description |
Proper peer review and quality of published articles are often regarded as signs of reliable scientific journals. The aim of this study was to compare whether the quality of statistical reporting and data presentation differs among articles published in ‘predatory dental journals’ and in other dental journals. We evaluated 50 articles published in ‘predatory open access (OA) journals’ and 100 clinical trials published in legitimate dental journals between 2019 and 2020. The quality of statistical reporting and data presentation of each paper was assessed on a scale from 0 (poor) to 10 (high). The mean (SD) quality score of the statistical reporting and data presentation was 2.5 (1.4) for the predatory OA journals, 4.8 (1.8) for the legitimate OA journals, and 5.6 (1.8) for the more visible dental journals. The mean values differed significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The quality of statistical reporting of clinical studies published in predatory journals was found to be lower than in open access and highly cited journals. This difference in quality is a wake-up call to consume study results critically. Poor statistical reporting indicates wider general lower quality in publications where the authors and journals are less likely to be critiqued by peer review. |
topic |
meta-research dental research publications statistical reporting data presentation |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/23/4/468 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT penttinieminen thequalityofstatisticalreportinganddatapresentationinpredatorydentaljournalswaslowerthaninnonpredatoryjournals AT sergioeuribe thequalityofstatisticalreportinganddatapresentationinpredatorydentaljournalswaslowerthaninnonpredatoryjournals AT penttinieminen qualityofstatisticalreportinganddatapresentationinpredatorydentaljournalswaslowerthaninnonpredatoryjournals AT sergioeuribe qualityofstatisticalreportinganddatapresentationinpredatorydentaljournalswaslowerthaninnonpredatoryjournals |
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