The Application of Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis: An Evidential-Based Analysis

10.6148/IJITAS.201812_11(4).0006

Mingchuan Hsieh

Fail-safe N ； Meta-Analysis ； Publication bias ； Trim and fill

International Journal of Intelligent Technologies and Applied Statistics

11卷4期（2018 / 12 / 01）

311 - 327

英文

There are two goals of this study: (1) survey the current application of publication bias in Chinese database, and (2) for those articles which provide sufficient statistical information, to conduct three publication bias methods and examine the differences of the results. It is found that most of the meta researches do not apply any kind of the publication bias method or only apply fail-safe N. However, fail-safe N has its own practical drawbacks and should be used with caution. The author also applies linear regression and trim and fill procedures to exam the funnel plot asymmetry. It is found that the results are discordance for different methods. Some suggestions were provided for in the end of the study.