Biomed Central articles: international collaboration, research quality

A few interesting articles from the Biomed Central journals:

• Gonzalez Block MA. The state of international collaboration for health systems research: what do publications tell? Health Res Pol Sys 2006, 4:7 - analyzed author information from to evaluate how much international collaboration is going on in research focusing on health systems and policies in developing countries. Concludes "While there is modest health systems research capacity in many developing countries for single country studies, capacity is severely limited for multi-country studies."


• Nieminen P, Carpenter JR, Rucker G, Schumacher M. The relationship between quality of research and citation frequency. BMC Medical Research Methodology 2006, 6:42 - looked at the quality of statistical analysis and results reporting in 4 psychiatric journals. Authors note: "Unclear or inadequate reporting of the research question and primary outcome were not statistically significantly associated with the citation counts. After adjusting for journal, extended description of statistical procedures had a positive effect on the number of citations received. Inappropriate statistical analysis did not affect the number of citations received. Adequate reporting of the primary research question, statistical methods and primary findings were all associated with the journal visibility and prestige."
• Poolman RW, Struijs PAA, Krips R, Sierevelt IN, Lutz KH,, Bhandari M. Does a "Level I Evidence" rating imply high quality of reporting in orthopaedic randomised controlled trials? BMC Medical Research Methodology 2006, 6:44 - examined reporting of evidence levels in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, American Volume, found that the reported level of evidence did not correlate with quality of the corresponding study