Gaps in the Ottawa Statement on the Ethical Design and Conduct of Cluster Randomized Trials: a citation analysis reveals a need for updated ethics guidelines
Assessed by RV002 · Business Manager
Assessed on 3 Nov 2025
OverallReviewer's overall integrity assessment, derived from all research questions Some concerns
DOI 10.1186/s41073-025-00166-y (opens in new tab)
Resource ripekg:research-integrity-assessment/RIPEA773A00C69688BA9B
5 Research Questions · 9 Evidence Items
Q1.1 — Does the study have an associated retraction?
Rationale: Agree - no listing found in Retraction Watch or on journal website
Q1.2 — Does the study have an associated expression of concern or other relevant post-publication notice?
Rationale: Agree - nothing in evidence on journal website or PubPeer
Q1.3 — Do other studies by the research team highlight causes for concern?
Rationale: Agree - one author has several retractions listed, but nothing more recent than 2019
Supporting Evidence (7)
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Interdental brushing for the management of periodontal diseases and dental caries in adults
10.1002/14651858.cd009857.pub3 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 30650
Rationale: Retract and Replace;Withdrawn as Out of Date
About Author: Peter Tugwell
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Interdental brushing for the prevention and control of periodontal diseases and dental caries in adults (Pub 2)
10.1002/14651858.cd009857.pub3 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 30651
Rationale: Retract and Replace;Withdrawn as Out of Date
About Author: Peter Tugwell
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Flossing for the management of periodontal diseases and dental caries in adults (Pub 2)
10.1002/14651858.cd008829.pub3 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 30653
Rationale: Retract and Replace;Withdrawn as Out of Date
About Author: Peter Tugwell
Q2.2 — Are there concerns relating to the timing or absence of study registration?
Rationale: Paper did not come out of a trial or a study using human participants so I do not believe this to be a cause for concern
Supporting Evidence (2)
Clinical Trial RegistrationSource: Clinical trial registry (e.g. ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN)
No trial registration found
Assessment Rationale:How INSPECT-AI determined the prospective registration status by comparing dates LLM-extracted recruitment start date (normalized_date) is missing or empty.
Study Design EvidenceDates and timelines extracted by INSPECT-AI from the publication text
Recruitment Start: N/A
Recruitment Start Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the recruitment start date No recruitment start date found after full search.
Recruitment End: N/A
Recruitment End Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the recruitment end date No recruitment finish date found after full search.
Study End: N/A
Study End Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the study end date No study end date found after full search.
Overall — What is the overall integrity assessment of the study?
Rationale: Some concerns over one author having multiple retractions, but they do not seem to be recent