Misuse of analysis of variance in African biomedical journals: a call for more vigilance

Abstract

BackgroundMisuse of analysis of variance alongside other statistical methods has been an important topic of discussion in many scientific gatherings. Although misuse of analysis of variance is of global concern, its prevalence in African-based biomedical journals has raised concerns among colleagues.MethodsWe sampled the current issues/last published issues of all African biomedical journals aggregated in an African journal aggregator. We scanned through all the journals’ sample articles in the journal aggregator and retrieved articles that either applied analysis of variance or were supposed to use the test.ResultsOur results show that 126 articles of the total 1789 sampled articles employed analysis of variance test for analysis. Of these, 99 (78.6%) articles used the analysis of variance test correctly, while 27 (21.4%) misused the test. Not stating the type of analysis of variance test employed for analysis was the most prevalent misuse of analysis of variance test.ConclusionsIn overall, the study demonstrated that misuse of analysis of variance test is prevalent in African biomedical journals. Therefore, all stakeholders (medical schools, reviewers, journal editors) need to do more to nip it in the bud.