{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T18:03:44Z","timestamp":1793124224579,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"BMJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,3]],"date-time":"2022-05-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1651536000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>To provide considerations for reporting and interpretation that can improve assessment of the credibility of exploratory analyses in aetiologic research.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design<\/jats:title><jats:p>Mini-review of the literature and account of exploratory research principles.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study focuses on a particular type of causal research, namely aetiologic studies, which investigate the causal effect of one or multiple risk factors on a particular health outcome or disease. The mini review included aetiologic research articles published in four epidemiology journals in the first issue of 2021:<jats:italic>American Journal of Epidemiology<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Epidemiology<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>European Journal of Epidemiology<\/jats:italic>, and<jats:italic>International Journal of Epidemiology<\/jats:italic>, specifically focusing on observational studies of causal risk factors of diseases.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Main outcome measures<\/jats:title><jats:p>Number of exposure-outcome associations reported, grouped by type of analysis (main, sensitivity, and additional).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The journal articles reported many exposure-outcome associations: a mean number of 33 (range 1-120) exposure-outcome associations for the primary analysis, 30 (0-336) for sensitivity analyses, and 163 (0-1467) for additional analyses. Six considerations were discussed that are important in assessing the credibility of exploratory analyses: research problem, protocol, statistical criteria, interpretation of findings, completeness of reporting, and effect of exploratory findings on future causal research.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Based on this mini-review, exploratory analyses in aetiologic research were not always reported properly. Six considerations for reporting of exploratory analyses in aetiologic research were provided to stimulate a discussion about their preferred handling and reporting. Researchers should take responsibility for the results of exploratory analyses by clearly reporting their exploratory nature and specifying which findings should be investigated in future research and how.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj-2021-070113","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,3]],"date-time":"2022-05-03T10:50:44Z","timestamp":1651575044000},"page":"e070113","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Exploratory analyses in aetiologic research and considerations for assessment of credibility: mini-review of literature"],"prefix":"10.1136","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5192-8368","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kim","family":"Luijken","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olaf M","family":"Dekkers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Frits R","family":"Rosendaal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rolf H H","family":"Groenwold","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1214\/aoms\/1177704711","article-title":"The future of data analysis","volume":"33","author":"Tukey","year":"1962","journal-title":"Ann Math Stat"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.2","unstructured":"Tukey JW . Exploratory data analysis. 1977."},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.g7015"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1745691612463078"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrg3706"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.39335.541782.AD"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1001885"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1614","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2021.18236","article-title":"Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology Using Mendelian Randomization: The STROBE-MR Statement","volume":"326","author":"Skrivankova","year":"2021","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclinepi.2008.12.004"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.i5239"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyaa166","article-title":"Population-based organized screening by faecal immunochemical testing and colorectal cancer mortality: a natural experiment","volume":"50","author":"Keys","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Epidemiol"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.c869"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1214\/10-STS330"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4922","DOI":"10.1002\/sim.8741","article-title":"Formulating causal questions and principled statistical answers","volume":"39","author":"Goetghebeur","year":"2020","journal-title":"Stat Med"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797611417632"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41416-020-1019-z"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(02)07373-7"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/aje\/kws412"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.19"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.c950"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.b4184"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1708274114"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.23","unstructured":"American Statistician . Statistical inference in the 21st century: A world beyond p<0.05. Am Stat 2019;73; suppl 1. https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/toc\/utas20\/73\/sup1"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1214\/11-STS356"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Heller R . Discussion of \u201cMultiple testing for exploratory research\u201d by JJ Goeman and A Solari. Stat Sci 2011;598-600.","DOI":"10.1214\/11-STS356A"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"604","DOI":"10.1214\/11-STS356C","article-title":"Discussion of \u201cMultiple testing for exploratory research\u201d by JJ Goeman and A Solari","volume":"26","author":"Westfall","year":"2011","journal-title":"Stat Sci"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E11","DOI":"10.1530\/EJE-20-1375","article-title":"Multiple testing: when is many too much?","volume":"184","author":"Groenwold","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur J Endocrinol"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1186\/s13063-019-3172-3","article-title":"COMPare: Qualitative analysis of researchers\u2019 responses to critical correspondence on a cohort of 58 misreported trials","volume":"20","author":"Goldacre","year":"2019","journal-title":"Trials"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10654-016-0149-3"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/EDE.0b013e31818131e7"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1353\/obs.2018.0014","article-title":"A contemporary conceptual framework for initial data analysis","volume":"4","author":"Huebner","year":"2018","journal-title":"Obs Stud"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.0050067"},{"key":"2023030806464246000_377.may03_3.e070113.33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/2682991"}],"container-title":["BMJ"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/data.bmj.org\/tdm\/10.1136\/bmj-2021-070113","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj-2021-070113","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,20]],"date-time":"2023-11-20T23:43:33Z","timestamp":1700523813000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj-2021-070113"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,3]]},"references-count":33,"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmj-2021-070113"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj-2021-070113","relation":{},"ISSN":["1756-1833"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1756-1833","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,3]]}}}