The Claim

The top 100 most cited RCT-related articles were published in only nine journals, with The New England Journal of Medicine accounting for 78% of these landmark studies, demonstrating extreme concentration of high-impact clinical research in a small number of outlets.

Source: Global mapping of randomised trials related articles published in high-impact-factor medical journals: a cross-sectional analysis

What the research says

Supports is higher

Support is ahead, but a single strong opposing study can change this.

Supports
29score
Challenges
0score

These are independent scores, not a percentage. Higher-grade studies count more, so a single strong opposing study can outweigh several weaker ones.

Description
1 study reviewed
In plain English

78% of the 100 most cited randomized controlled trial articles were published in a single journal, The New England Journal of Medicine, and all 100 were published in just nine journals total.

See the scientific wording

The top 100 most cited RCT-related articles were published in only nine journals, with The New England Journal of Medicine accounting for 78% of these landmark studies, demonstrating extreme concentration of high-impact clinical research in a small number of outlets.

Why this might work

High-impact medical journals select studies with large effects, novel claims, or strong statistical significance for publication, while rejecting studies with smaller effects or negative results. This filtering causes the most cited trials to appear almost exclusively in a small number of journals, creating the appearance that only those outlets produce landmark research.

Hypothetical mechanismbased on 1 study

What the research says

1 study
  1. Study: Global mapping of randomised trials related articles published in high-impact-factor medical journals: a cross-sectional analysis

    The study found that out of the 100 most famous medical trials, 78 were published in just one journal — The New England Journal of Medicine — which proves that a tiny number of journals publish most of the biggest medical discoveries.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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