Title |
The Quantity and Quality of Scientific Graphs in Pharmaceutical Advertisements
|
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Published in |
Journal of General Internal Medicine, April 2003
|
DOI | 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Richelle J. Cooper, David L. Schriger, Roger C. Wallace, Vladislav J. Mikulich, Michael S. Wilkes |
Abstract |
We characterized the quantity and quality of graphs in all pharmaceutical advertisements, in the 10 U.S. medical journals. Four hundred eighty-four unique advertisements (of 3,185 total advertisements) contained 836 glossy and 455 small-print pages. Forty-nine percent of glossy page area was nonscientific figures/images, 0.4% tables, and 1.6% scientific graphs (74 graphs in 64 advertisements). All 74 graphs were univariate displays, 4% were distributions, and 4% contained confidence intervals for summary measures. Extraneous decoration (66%) and redundancy (46%) were common. Fifty-eight percent of graphs presented an outcome relevant to the drug's indication. Numeric distortion, specifically prohibited by FDA regulations, occurred in 36% of graphs. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Italy | 1 | 4% |
Unknown | 24 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 4 | 16% |
Professor | 4 | 16% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 3 | 12% |
Student > Bachelor | 2 | 8% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 2 | 8% |
Other | 7 | 28% |
Unknown | 3 | 12% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 9 | 36% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 2 | 8% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 2 | 8% |
Linguistics | 2 | 8% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 1 | 4% |
Other | 4 | 16% |
Unknown | 5 | 20% |