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Characteristics of Medical Research News Reported on Front Pages of Newspapers

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  • William Yuk Yeu Lai
  • Trevor Lane

Abstract

Background: The placement of medical research news on a newspaper's front page is intended to gain the public's attention, so it is important to understand the source of the news in terms of research maturity and evidence level. Methodology/Principal Findings: We searched LexisNexis to identify medical research reported on front pages of major newspapers published from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2002. We used MEDLINE and Google Scholar to find journal articles corresponding to the research, and determined their evidence level. Conclusions/Significance: Only 57% of front-page stories reporting on medical research are based on mature research, which tends to have a higher evidence level than research with preliminary findings. Medical research news should be clearly referenced and state the evidence level and limitations to inform the public of the maturity and quality of the source.

Suggested Citation

  • William Yuk Yeu Lai & Trevor Lane, 2009. "Characteristics of Medical Research News Reported on Front Pages of Newspapers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(7), pages 1-7, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0006103
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006103
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