Citing and building on meta-analytic findings: A review and recommendations

KD Carlson, FX Ji�- Organizational Research Methods, 2011 - journals.sagepub.com
Organizational Research Methods, 2011journals.sagepub.com
Meta-analysis is commonly used to quantitatively review research findings in the social
sciences. This article looks at what happens next, after a meta-analysis is published. The
authors examine how meta-analytic findings are cited in subsequent studies and whether
the citing authors take full advantage of the information meta-analyses provide. A review of
1,489 citations to meta-analyses in 319 empirical studies published in three journals over
two decades indicates that the frequency of citing meta-analyses is accelerating. An analysis�…
Meta-analysis is commonly used to quantitatively review research findings in the social sciences. This article looks at what happens next, after a meta-analysis is published. The authors examine how meta-analytic findings are cited in subsequent studies and whether the citing authors take full advantage of the information meta-analyses provide. A review of 1,489 citations to meta-analyses in 319 empirical studies published in three journals over two decades indicates that the frequency of citing meta-analyses is accelerating. An analysis of citing practices indicates that authors use data for a variety of purposes in subsequent research studies. However, the citing studies often underreported important aspects of meta-analytic data, and additional opportunities exist to build on the data provided by meta-analytic reviews.
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