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Table of Contents

February 2011

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Best practice in systematic reviews: The importance of protocols and registration.

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Systematic reviews (overviews of health care interventions that use predefined methods to find and appraise all the relevant evidence) are generally thought to provide reliable evidence for decision-making in clinical practice, if carefully carried out and transparently reported. However, there is potential for bias in the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews through nonpublication of "negative" outcomes. Given this potential for bias, PLoS Medicine announces its support for prospective registration of systematic reviews during the planning stage. PLoS Medicine will now ask authors who submit reports of systematic reviews whether they registered their study and to provide a copy of the systematic review protocol if available. The Editors hope these steps will encourage and enable more transparent reporting of systematic reviews.

Image Credit: James Bowe at flickr.com

Editorial

Best Practice in Systematic Reviews: The Importance of Protocols and Registration

The PLoS Medicine Editors

PLOS Medicine: published February 22, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001009

Perspectives

Measuring the True Costs of War: Consensus and Controversy

Robert Muggah

PLOS Medicine: published February 15, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000417

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Intermittent Preventive Treatment to Reduce the Burden of Malaria in Children: New Evidence on Integration and Delivery

James G. Beeson, Stephen J. Rogerson, Ivo Mueller, Jack S. Richards, Freya J. I. Fowkes

PLOS Medicine: published February 1, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000410

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Policy Forums

A Surprising Prevention Success: Why Did the HIV Epidemic Decline in Zimbabwe?

Daniel T. Halperin, Owen Mugurungi, Timothy B. Hallett, Backson Muchini, Bruce Campbell, Tapuwa Magure, Clemens Benedikt, Simon Gregson

PLOS Medicine: published February 8, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000414

Dengue Vaccines Regulatory Pathways: A Report on Two Meetings with Regulators of Developing Countries

Richard Mahoney, Liliana Chocarro, James Southern, Donald P. Francis, John Vose, Harold Margolis

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Registering New Drugs for Low-Income Countries: The African Challenge

Mary Moran, Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, Javier Guzman, Pascale Boulet, Lindsey Wu, Bernard Pecoul

PLOS Medicine: published February 1, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000411

Research Articles

Violent Deaths of Iraqi Civilians, 2003–2008: Analysis by Perpetrator, Weapon, Time, and Location

Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks, Hamit Dardagan, Gabriela Guerrero Serdán, Peter M. Bagnall, John A. Sloboda, Michael Spagat

PLOS Medicine: published February 15, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000415

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  1. Measuring the True Costs of War: Consensus and Controversy

Intravaginal Practices, Bacterial Vaginosis, and HIV Infection in Women: Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis

Nicola Low, Matthew F. Chersich, Kurt Schmidlin, Matthias Egger, Suzanna C. Francis, Janneke H. H. M. van de Wijgert, Richard J. Hayes, Jared M. Baeten, Joelle Brown, Sinead Delany-Moretlwe, Rupert Kaul, Nuala McGrath, Charles Morrison, Landon Myer, Marleen Temmerman, Ariane van der Straten, Deborah Watson-Jones, Marcel Zwahlen, Adriane Martin Hilber

PLOS Medicine: published February 15, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000416

Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria Provides Substantial Protection against Malaria in Children Already Protected by an Insecticide-Treated Bednet in Burkina Faso: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Amadou T. Konaté, Jean Baptiste Yaro, Amidou Z. Ouédraogo, Amidou Diarra, Adama Gansané, Issiaka Soulama, David T. Kangoyé, Youssouf Kaboré, Espérance Ouédraogo, Alphonse Ouédraogo, Alfred B. Tiono, Issa N. Ouédraogo, Daniel Chandramohan, Simon Cousens, Paul J. Milligan, Sodiomon B. Sirima, Brian Greenwood, Diadier A. Diallo

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Alassane Dicko, Abdoulbaki I. Diallo, Intimbeye Tembine, Yahia Dicko, Niawanlou Dara, Youssoufa Sidibe, Gaoussou Santara, Halimatou Diawara, Toumani Conaré, Abdoulaye Djimde, Daniel Chandramohan, Simon Cousens, Paul J. Milligan, Diadier A. Diallo, Ogobara K. Doumbo, Brian Greenwood

PLOS Medicine: published February 1, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000407

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Two Strategies for the Delivery of IPTc in an Area of Seasonal Malaria Transmission in The Gambia: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Kalifa A. Bojang, Francis Akor, Lesong Conteh, Emily Webb, Ousman Bittaye, David J. Conway, Momodou Jasseh, Virginia Wiseman, Paul J. Milligan, Brian Greenwood

PLOS Medicine: published February 1, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000409

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A Randomised Controlled Trial of Ion-Exchange Water Softeners for the Treatment of Eczema in Children

Kim S. Thomas, Tara Dean, Caroline O'Leary, Tracey H. Sach, Karin Koller, Anthony Frost, Hywel C. Williams, the SWET Trial Team

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Health Behaviours, Socioeconomic Status, and Mortality: Further Analyses of the British Whitehall II and the French GAZEL Prospective Cohorts

Silvia Stringhini, Aline Dugravot, Martin Shipley, Marcel Goldberg, Marie Zins, Mika Kivimäki, Michael Marmot, Séverine Sabia, Archana Singh-Manoux

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Adult Consequences of Late Adolescent Alcohol Consumption: A Systematic Review of Cohort Studies

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Health and Human Rights in Chin State, Western Burma: A Population-Based Assessment Using Multistaged Household Cluster Sampling

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