An Overview of the Research Reports on Addiction in Iranian Journals from 2010 to 2015

BACKGROUND: The articles and research reports presented in the scientific journals are selected without a proper critical appraisal in many cases. This is a major problem, as it leads to the opinions of the experts being neglected in many of these scientific journals. A descriptive study was done in fall and winter of 2016. METHODS: Journals were identified searching the electronic databases, including PubMed, Medline, Scopus, Google Scholar, and national Persian databases of SID and Magiran. All the articles on addiction published in the time span of 2010-2015 in 8 psychiatry, psychology, and addiction journals were included in this study. The journals included Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Fundamentals of Mental Health, and Journal of Research on Addiction in Persian, and Health and Addiction Journal, International Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Journal of Research in Behavioral Sciences, and International Journal of Psychological Studies in English. These journals were evaluated according to their research design and methodology, scientific writing style, and the validity of the references. For all of the 264 articles, the research design and references were thoroughly evaluated. FINDINGS: The most frequent problems were seen in the introduction section, the sampling method of study, the exclusive criteria, analysis, and the limitations of the study. CONCLUSION: Major deficiencies in the articles on addiction in Iranian journals were seen. It can be prevented by including important items in the checklists published by some of the journals for reviewers.