Scientific Update: The 25 Most Noteworthy Dietary Supplement Research Papers Published in 2004

The office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has just announced the release of the 2004 issue of the Annual Bibliography of Significant Advances in Dietary Supplement Research. This bibliography includes the abstract (summaries) of the 25 most noteworthy dietary supplement research papers published in 2004, as judged by an international team of reviewers and is the first issue to highlight research on phenolics and falvonoids.

Follow this link for the FREE download:
http://ods.od.nih.gov/pubs/ODS_CHPA_Bibliography_2004.pdf

John L. Zenk, M.D.

TIMELINE FOR A PUBLISHED RESEARCH STUDY

After reading through this enlightening report, we started to ask ourselves how a published study comes about. What are the steps? Why can it take so long. Fortunately, our resident expert and Principal Investigator of the Minnesotta Applied Research Center, Dr. John L. Zenk M.D., is a wealth of information on this topic, and he shared his insights into this process:

Once a clinical study is completed, the results are analyzed by a statistician and thoroughly reviewed for accuracy and completeness. Then a formal manuscript is prepared and reviewed by both the investigators and sponsor of the study. A suitable, respected scientific journal is chosen and the manuscript is submitted for a formal review of the study design, methodology, and results.

The review is performed by a panel of professionals with an expertise in the field of study addressed by the manuscript. As the review progresses, the manuscript may be rejected, accepted without change, or accepted pending suitable responses to the reviewer inquiries. If the manuscript is rejected, another journal may be chosen for submission, and the process starts all over again. If the manuscript is eventually accepted for publication, it then falls into a queue for the journal's publication objectives and timeline.

For example, some journals dedicate certain issues to specific topics, and if the manuscript in question does not fit the topic, then it waits till the next available topic presentation. Once a publication date is established by the journal, galley proofs are created and sent to the investigators and study sponsor for review. The galley proofs may go through several stages of revision and review until they are finally publication ready. After final sign-off of the proofs, the manuscript is published in the journal.

One thing which is important to know is that not all studies are accepted for publication. In fact, many studies are never even submitted, simply because they lack the formality, structure, and guidelines to be accepted by a peer-reviewed journal. Typically, you'll find that many supplement companies perform what are termed "pilot studies," which are not technically designed to be presented or published.

Only studies which have been carefully designed and conducted within a controlled environment will be accepted for presentation or publishing. I liken the difference between a pilot study and a published study to a cubic zirconium and a real diamond. While they both look nice from the outside and "similar" to the naked eye, they are in fact a world apart in terms of quality. Sadly, most supplement companies don't invest in either one—they just market their products on pure hype or they ride on the coattails of those companies that do invest in legitimate clinical trials… using others scientific studies as the basis for all their claims.

Follow this link for the FREE download of The 25 Most Noteworthy Dietary Supplement Research Papers Published in 2004:
http://ods.od.nih.gov/pubs/ODS_CHPA_Bibliography_2004.pdf

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