▁and ▁the ▁D art mouth ▁Institute ▁for ▁Health ▁Policy ▁& ▁C lin ical ▁Pract ice . ▁ ▁Iss ues ▁addressed ▁The ▁project ▁is ▁a ▁reaction ▁to ▁under - report ing ▁of ▁research . ▁ ▁A ▁substantial ▁proportion ▁( est im ates ▁range ▁from ▁one - third ▁to ▁one - half ) ▁of ▁medical ▁research ▁goes ▁un pub lished . ▁It ▁has ▁also ▁been ▁shown ▁that ▁negative ▁find ings ▁are ▁less ▁likely ▁to ▁be ▁published ▁than ▁positive ▁ones , ▁even ▁in ▁the ▁absence ▁of ▁conflicts ▁of ▁interest . ▁ ▁Much ▁medical ▁research ▁is ▁done ▁by ▁the ▁ph arma ce ut ical ▁industry , ▁which ▁have ▁a ▁conflict ▁of ▁interest ▁reporting ▁results ▁which ▁may ▁hurt ▁sales ▁of ▁their ▁products . ▁There ▁is ▁a ▁meas urable ▁fund ing ▁bias ▁in ▁reporting ; ▁studies ▁have ▁shown ▁that ▁published ▁drug ▁studies ▁fund ed ▁by ▁ph arma ce ut ical ▁companies ▁are ▁much ▁more ▁likely ▁to ▁support ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁tested ▁drug ▁than ▁studies ▁with ▁other ▁fund ing . ▁Indust ry - fund ed ▁tri als ▁are ▁also ▁less ▁likely ▁to ▁be ▁published . ▁ ▁If ▁the ▁statistical ▁methods ▁used ▁to ▁analy se ▁the ▁trial ▁are ▁not ▁chosen ▁before ▁the ▁study ▁it ▁started , ▁there ▁is ▁a ▁danger ▁that ▁research ers ▁will ▁intention ally ▁or ▁un int ention ally ▁pick ▁the ▁method ▁that ▁gives ▁the ▁results ▁they ▁expect , ▁or ▁which ▁gives ▁the ▁most ▁significant ▁results . ▁This ▁makes ▁the ▁analysis ▁statist ically ▁invalid . ▁ ▁Not ▁publishing ▁tri als ▁which ▁fail ▁to ▁find ▁a ▁clear ▁effect ▁ex