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 Cochrane
General medical
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? Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? Yes