Name: Stephanie Osorio
Research Article #3 Assignment (Ioannidis. PLoS Med 11 (10): e1001747, 2014.)
Question from p. 1
1. What are the seven main types of risk factors for the high false positive rates of published research findings?
The seven main risk factors are bias, small effect sizes, conflicts of interest, fragmentation of efforts in favor of unbiased, transparent, collaborative research with greater standardization, and

Questions from p. 2
2. Some meta-research investigators, like Ioannidis, contend that the “evidence-based” terminology that is supposed to guide healthcare and clinical practice has been usurped to promote what types of beliefs and agendas?
To promote “expert-based beliefs and industry agendas.”
3. What are the twelve research practices that may help increase the proportion of true research findings (Box 1)?
Large-scale collaborative research, adoption of replication culture, registration (of studies, protocols, analysis codes, datasets, raw data, and results), sharing (of data, protocols, materials, software, and other tools), reproducibility practices, containment of conflicted sponsors and authors, more appropriate statistical methods, standardization of definition and analyses, more stringent thresholds for claiming discoveries or “successes”, improvement of study design standards, improvements in peer review, reporting, and dissemination of research, and better training of scientific workforce in methods and statistical literacy.
4. In which types of research settings and designs may the adoption of a strong replication culture be more or less feasible?
“For basic laboratory and preclinical studies, replication should be feasible as a default…For some clinical research, replication is difficult, especially for very large, long-term, expensive studies.”

5. What is the definition of the EQUATOR acronym (you can read reference number 48 in PubMed)? What are the acronyms of the reporting guidelines for randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and observational studies?
EQUATOR means Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research. “CONSORT Statement for reporting randomised controlled trials, PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and STROBE for observational studies”.

Questions from p. 3
6. Which of the major stakeholders in science have a strong interest (designated by +++) in publishable, fundable, translatable, and/or profitable research (Table 1)?
Publishable: scientists, journal editors, and not-for-profit research institutions
Fundable: scientists, professional and scientific societies, not-for-profit research institutions, and supporting non-scientific staff
Translatable: industry – R&D, public funders – closed (military), not-for-profit funders/philanthropists, and consumers of products and services
Profitable: industry – sales and marketing, industry – R&D, private investors (including hedge funds), for-profit publishers, hospitals