Results Summary and Professional Abstract
Related Articles
Peer-Review Summary
Peer review of PCORI-funded research helps make sure the report presents complete, balanced, and useful information about the research. It also assesses how the project addressed PCORI’s Methodology Standards. During peer review, experts read a draft report of the research and provide comments about the report. These experts may include a scientist focused on the research topic, a specialist in research methods, a patient or caregiver, and a healthcare professional. These reviewers cannot have conflicts of interest with the study.
The peer reviewers point out where the draft report may need revision. For example, they may suggest ways to improve descriptions of the conduct of the study or to clarify the connection between results and conclusions. Sometimes, awardees revise their draft reports twice or more to address all of the reviewers’ comments.
Peer reviewers commented and the researchers made changes or provided responses. Those comments and responses included the following:
- Most of the research presented in this final report had already been published in peer-reviewed journals. The reviewers’ comments primarily related to the presentation of the research, acknowledging that it was difficult to apply the appropriate amount of technical information when summarizing mostly published research. The researchers made several changes in describing their research to improve the flow of the report and provide enough information for readers to understand the project.
- The reviewers asked the researchers to clarify that their project was not intended to compare to existing approaches the impact of the new statistical models on diagnostic accuracy and treatment decisions. The researchers edited the text to clarify that this project was meant to be a proof-of-concept study that developed the new approaches. However, they noted that a larger study would be necessary for any comparisons to existing models.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures
View the COI disclosure form.