An international survey indicated that unpublished systematic reviews exist

Ref ID 602
First Author A. C. Tricco
Journal JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2009
URL https://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(08)00271-0/fulltext
Keywords • General medical
• Publication bias
• Protocols
Problem(s) • Unpublished or "zombie" reviews (the file-drawer effect)
Article Type Empirical
Article Subtype Survey/questionnaire of authors opinions/practices
First Author Country Canada
Aim To contact authors of published systematic reviews to understand whether they have manuscripts of unpublished systematic reviews, and the reasons for not publishing the systematic reviews.
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings Respondents reported a total of 199 unpublished systematic reviews. Reasons for not publishing included lack of time, lack of funding or organizational support, manuscript being rejected or operational issues.
Number of systematic reviews included 625
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 3340
Treatment impacted No
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description