Until it has been published, can you be sure that the epub ahead of print paper you are citing won't be amended? Does it vary between publishers? Would you include epub ahead of print results in a systematic review or meta-analysis?
It depends on the publisher, but for the most part yes you would include these papers in a meta-analysis. I'm assuming that in this case ahead of print means the same as "online first". For example in some technical areas there will be pre-print papers that have not undergone peer review. What sort of journals are you looking at?
Thanks William, yes "ahead of print" and "online first" seem to be used interchangeably. They would be journals in the field of healthcare - medicine, nursing, radiology, pharma, physio etc. I encounter papers that remain in this "limbo" state for over two years, the first 100/200 results (depending on the topic) in the main databases will generally be these "ahead of print" so it's hard to ignore them. In the meantime I spoke with other colleagues and they are of the same opinion - they can and should be included.
Thanks again.
of course. why not ?, is going to include one of the advantages and / or internet problem. Databases such as PubMed include preprints approved by the editor, pending publication in the paper version have already been reviewed and may change very little, especially changes the format and corrections but not the basic research data.
Thanks Luz. That seems to be the general consensus so I will continue to include them.
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