The quantity and quality of scientific graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements

Richelle J. Cooper; David L. Schriger; Roger C. Wallace; Vladislav J. Mikulich; Michael S Wilkes

doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x

The quantity and quality of scientific graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements

Richelle J. Cooper, David L. Schriger, Roger C. Wallace, Vladislav J. Mikulich, Michael S Wilkes

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

We characterized the quantity and quality of graphs in all pharmaceutical advertisements in the 1999 issues of 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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	294-297
Number of pages	4
Journal	Journal of General Internal Medicine
Volume	18
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x
State	Published - Apr 1 2003
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Advertising standards
Drug industry
Graphing
Medical illustration

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Internal Medicine

Access to Document

10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x

Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'The quantity and quality of scientific graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this

@article{67f88908b2184b11b5a37b9509fd511b,

title = "The quantity and quality of scientific graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements",

abstract = "We characterized the quantity and quality of graphs in all pharmaceutical advertisements in the 1999 issues of 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.",

keywords = "Advertising standards, Drug industry, Graphing, Medical illustration",

author = "Cooper, {Richelle J.} and Schriger, {David L.} and Wallace, {Roger C.} and Mikulich, {Vladislav J.} and Wilkes, {Michael S}",

year = "2003",

month = apr,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "18",

pages = "294--297",

journal = "Journal of General Internal Medicine",

issn = "0884-8734",

publisher = "Springer New York",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The quantity and quality of scientific graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements

AU - Cooper, Richelle J.

AU - Schriger, David L.

AU - Wallace, Roger C.

AU - Mikulich, Vladislav J.

AU - Wilkes, Michael S

PY - 2003/4/1

Y1 - 2003/4/1

N2 - We characterized the quantity and quality of graphs in all pharmaceutical advertisements in the 1999 issues of 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.

AB - We characterized the quantity and quality of graphs in all pharmaceutical advertisements in the 1999 issues of 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.

KW - Advertising standards

KW - Drug industry

KW - Graphing

KW - Medical illustration

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0038298719&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0038298719&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x

DO - 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x

M3 - Article

C2 - 12709097

AN - SCOPUS:0038298719

VL - 18

SP - 294

EP - 297

JO - Journal of General Internal Medicine

JF - Journal of General Internal Medicine

SN - 0884-8734

IS - 4

ER -