Empty reviews: a description and consideration of Cochrane systematic reviews with no included studies

Ref ID 542
First Author J. Yaffe
Journal PLOS ONE
Year Of Publishing 2012
URL https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3344923/pdf/pone.0036626.pdf
Keywords • General medical
• Cochrane
Problem(s) • Weaknesses identified in some Cochrane reviews
Number of systematic reviews included 376
Summary of Findings 8.7% of reviews published in the Cochrane Database of systematic reviews were empty reviews. Time since original publication of empty reviews ranged from 0 to 15 years with a mean of 4.2 years (SD = 3.4). Time since last assessed as up-to-date ranged from 0 to 12 years with a mean of 2.8 years (SD = 2.2). The number of excluded studies reported in these reviews ranged from 0 to 124. 23.4% of empty reviews reported no excluded studies, studies awaiting assessment, or on-going studies
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? N/A
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? Yes