DOI: 10.1111/hir.12106

Editorial Reporting statistical analyses in peer review journal articles Abstract As a regular referee for the Health Information and Libraries Journal, Richard Stephens – Winner of the 2014 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize – has been impressed by the science on offer in the Health Information and Libraries Journal. But he has also been struck by how often similar problems with statistical analysis reporting come up during the review process. Acknowledging that statistics can be scary, he advocates that they should be simply viewed as a means of communicating ideas. In this editorial, he provides some straightforward guidelines on reporting statistical analyses in peer review journal articles, highlights pitfalls to avoid and illustrates best practice to aim for. Keywords: health sciences; librarianship, library and information sector; statistics As a regular referee for the Health Information and Libraries Journal I have been impressed by the science on offer but, as someone with a keen interest in statistics, it is striking how often similar problems with statistical analysis reporting come up. Whether reading or writing them, statistics can be scary, but they should not be; they are simply a means of communicating ideas. In this short editorial, I provide some straightforward guidelines on reporting statistical analyses in peer review journal articles, highlight pitfalls to avoid and illustrating best practice to aim for.

What did you do? You should, in plain language explain what the purpose of your analysis is. For example, if you were using a t-test to compare librarians’ mean ratings of different information archiving packages © 2015 Health Libraries Group Health Information & Libraries Journal, 32, pp. 81–83

then simply state that in the Methods section of your manuscript.

Be a dedicated follower of fashion There are accepted conventions to follow when reporting statistics, so make sure you report the conventional statistics for an analysis. Most often, this will be a test statistic such as the t of the t-test or the F of ANOVA, the degrees of freedom, the P value and an effect size estimate such as Cohen’s d. Take care over whether upper or lower case letters are used to denote statistics such as t, F and d, and note these single letter designated statistics should be italicised.

All present and correct Remember to report a summary of your data. This might be ‘means’ and ‘standard deviations (SDs)’ or frequency counts across different conditions or groups. A table can often be the best place for descriptive statistics such as these, accompanied by a sentence or two in the text to explain them.

The need for precision When it comes to reporting statistics, it is important to be precise. Avoid words like ‘average’, instead explain what kind of average you have provided, such as mean, median or mode. Similarly, when you interpret effect size estimates as small, medium or large, provide a reference to support this interpretation. You want your readers to be able to understand your results so provide references for more unusual statistical tests.

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Learn from what’s gone before When reporting statistics for the first time, it can be useful to look up previous peer review articles that have used the same statistical methods and use these as a form guide for how to report and present your analysis.

Tell a story Remember to offer interpretation as well as findings. For example, it would be a finding to state that a swimming pool’s temperature was 24°C. It would be an interpretation to state this as being ‘hot’. Wikipedia is now an excellent and quickly accessible source of information for statistical analysis and can be a useful resource for quickly checking details.1 However, for more detailed support, you will probably need a more in-depth statistics book. Liwen Vaughan’s book ‘Statistical Methods for the Information Professional’ remains a key resource for the library and information sector2 and, using examples from the information science sector, can help you identify what type of data you have (nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio data) and which statistical tests are most appropriate to use (chi-square, t-test, ANOVA, etc.) Reporting of a statistical analysis should be a narrative and follow a simple structure. The narrative should first explain what the analysis will do (Methods), present the analysis following appropriate conventions (Results) and finally explain what it means (Discussion). The more you are able to explain all of this in easy to understand language the more readable your paper will be, and the more easily the paper will pass through the peer review process. Happy researching! Richard Stephens Senior Lecturer, Keele University Email: [email protected] References 1 Statistics. Accessible at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics. Accessed 26 February 2015.

2 Vaughan, L. Statistical Methods for the Information Professional: A Practical, Painless Approach to Understanding, Using and Interpreting Statistics. New Jersey: Information Today Inc., 2001.

In this issue. . . Questionnaires are strongly evident in this issue with three studies employing this methodology to investigate information seeking behaviour in various guises, be it condition specific information seeking, scanning or avoidance, timing of information seeking or student knowledge acquisition. Nelisson et al.1 used a questionnaire survey in investigating information behaviour. They recruited a convenience sample of 621 cancer diagnosed and 1387 non-diagnosed individuals. Their results showed a positive association between fear of cancer and cancer information seeking, scanning and avoiding, an association that was not moderated by a cancer diagnosis. Within the context of information behaviour following during and after diagnosis, Al-Dahani et al.2 used nonparametric tests to analyse the results of 240 questionnaires of participants at a school for children with special need. Al-Dahani et al. examined information seeking behaviour investigating both information source preference and barriers encountered in seeking information. Similar to other studies, doctors and physicians were the most preferred information source, followed by books. However, the study, undertaken in Kuwait, found that lack of resources in an accessible language (Arabic) was the greatest barrier to information seeking for participants; this may account for online support groups and social media applications were least desirable as information sources. Completing the triptych of questionnaire studies, Powelson undertook an intriguing online before and after questionnaire survey to investigate whether it’s possible to meaningfully teach evidence based information literacy skills without a mandatory hands-on component.3 Closely integrated with course content and faculty participation, three librarians led five 15-minute evidence based information literacy sessions to 12

© 2015 Health Libraries Group Health Information & Libraries Journal, 32, pp. 81–83

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practicing physician-led small groups of 15 students. One hundred and twelve of the 160 students completed both elements of the survey and, using simple descriptive statistics, Powelson et al. demonstrate a positive impact on student’s evidence based information literacy skills. Students reported increased confidence in their abilities to search and find relevant information and were also more likely to consult a librarian. Stakeholders have an important part to play in any research project, be it patients with cancer, families of those with learning disabilities or students. In recognising their role, Saan provides two case studies of the use of TRASI, the Tool for Recording and Accounting for Stakeholder Involvement, within the context of systematic reviews.4 The first case study demonstrates collaboration between the end-user and an expert during the literature search while in the second case study experts were consulted to generate key words before searching the literature. Based on their experiences, Saan notes that TRASI can assist in systematically and transparently accounting for decisions taken and in helping shape a search strategy to review objectives. Finally, Lawton et al. sought to identify the key competences for health librarians. Drawing on library association definitions, recent job descriptions and a mapping review of the Library & Information Science literature, Lawton et al. reveal ten common areas of competence, acknowledging the ever-changing working environment and continual evolution of new roles for those working in the health library and information sector.5 Lawton’s findings chime with theme of this year’s European Association of Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) workshop of library and information science workers needing to acquire research skills.6 We are pleased to confirm that this year’s Virtual Issue of the Health Information and Libraries Journal has been developed to link with the EAHIL

© 2015 Health Libraries Group Health Information & Libraries Journal, 32, pp. 81–83

workshop, and provides further evidence of that health librarians are an increasingly research orientated profession. All content is available free of charge and can be accessed from the Health Information and Libraries Journal home page.7 Happy researching! Maria J. Grant Editor, Health Information and Libraries Journal Email: [email protected] Twitter: @MariaJGrant @HILJnl #hilj Facebook: http://on.fb.me/ovBuiM http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hilj References 1 Nelissen, S., Beullens, K., Lemal, M. & Van den Bulck, J. Fear of cancer is associated with cancer information seeking, scanning and avoiding: a cross-sectional study among cancer diagnosed and non-diagnosed individuals. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2015, 32, 107–119. 2 Al-Daihani, S. & Al-Ateeqi, H. Parents of children with disabilities in Kuwait: a study of their information seeking behaviour. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2015, 32, 131–142. 3 Powelson, S., McClurg, C., Lang, E., Aghajafari, F. & Edworthy, S. Evaluating effectiveness of small group literacy instruction for undergraduate medical education students using a pre-post survey study design. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2015, 32, 120–130. 4 Saan, M., Boeije, H., Sattoe, J., Bal, M., Missler, M. & Van Wesel, F. Accounting for the role of stakeholders in systematic reviews: demonstration of a Tool for Recording and Accounting for Stakeholder Involvement (TRASI). Health Information and Libraries Journal 2015, 32, 95–106. 5 Lawton, A. & Burns, J. A review of competencies needed for health librarians: a comparison of Irish and international practice. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2015, 32, 84–94. 6 EAHIL. Research-minded: supporting, understanding, conducting research. Accessible at: https://eahil2015.word press.com/. Accessed: 8 April 2015. 7 Health Information and Libraries Journal. Accessible at: http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hilj. Accessed: 8 April 2015.

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Reporting statistical analyses in peer review journal articles.

As a regular referee for the Health Information and Libraries Journal, Richard Stephens--Winner of the 2014 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize--has ...
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