At a glance
ClinicalIndex Comparison RecordStandardized by ClinicalIndex from the ClinicalTrials.gov record · verify against the source.
Readers' Attention of Shorter Versus Longer Abstracts of Systematic Reviews: A Randomized Controlled Trial
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating Long Abstract and Short Abstract for Researchers Attention. Completed, enrolled 1,941 participants across 1 site.
Detailed Summary
The present randomized controlled trial (RCT) was designed to investigate the perceptions of researchers on systematic review (SR) abstracts. The primary objective will be to compare readers' attention of shorter versus longer abstracts. The secondary objective will be to assess the perception of an abstract based on four indicators of a well-written abstract: (a) Informativeness, (b) Accuracy, (c) Attractiveness, and (d) Conciseness. The study will involve researchers from all over the world who recently published an SR, regardless of their research field. To identify eligible authors, a search of MEDLINE (via PubMed) was conducted on May 5, 2024, for systematic reviews published between January 1, 2024, and March 26, 2024. A total of at least 6200 SRs will be selected from PubMed and assessed for eligibility. The corresponding author information will be extracted from all included SRs and randomized in a 1:1 ratio.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
The intervention and control group will be provided with a structured abstract of the review by Soderberg et al., entitled "Percutaneous nephrolithotomy vs. retrograde intrarenal surgery for renal stones". This review was published once in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and once in the journal BJU International. The length of the abstract differs significantly depending on the journal. The participants assigned to this study arm will be presented with the longer version published in the Cochrane Database, comprising 771 words (PMID: 37955353).
The participants assigned to this study arm will be presented with the shorter version published in BJU International, comprising 277 words (PMID: 37942649).