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Published online 3 September 2001 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news010906-3
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Is that study really necessary?
Economics helps decide if we should put our money where researchers' mouths are.
Stuck for a punchy conclusion to a scientific paper? Best avoid the mantra 'more research is needed' - a US epidemiologist has now devised a way to work out whether, for any given study, this claim is justified.
Too often, says Carl Phillips, of the University of Minnesota in Rochester, more research does little to reduce our uncertainty about the health effects of a particular environmental risk or lifestyle choice1.
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