Table 1 Basic characteristics of the included protocols
Protocol characteristics | n = 544 |
|---|---|
Publication year | |
2012 | 3.9% |
2013 | 10.3% |
2014 | 17.0% |
2015 | 19.5% |
2016 | 22.8% |
2017 | 26.7% |
Country (most common) | |
Canada | 32.2% |
UK | 26.1% |
Other | 22.6% |
Australia | 7.4% |
Germany | 7.0% |
USA | 4.8% |
Topic area of SR | |
Therapy (treatment, prevention) | 44.1% |
Other (i.e. methodology) | 27.0% |
Epidemiology (i.e. prevalence) | 22.6% |
Diagnosis | 4.2% |
Prognosis | 2.0% |
Source of funding of the SR | |
Non-profit | 62.9% |
For-profit/mixed | 2.4% |
No funding | 18.6% |
Not reported/unclear | 16.2% |
Number of authors | |
Mean (SD) | 6.5 (3.6) |
Median (IQR) | 6 (4–8) |
Registered in PROSPERO (n = 485; 89.2%) | |
Before submission / acceptance | 87.4% |
After submission / acceptance | 2.5% |
Same day | 10.1% |