A Critical Analysis of Claims and Their Authenticity in Indian Drug Promotional Advertisements

Table 5

Classification of retrievable references.

Types of reference	Valid ()	Invalid ()
Research article	75	15
Review article	5	—
Meta-analysis	—	—
Preclinical studies
Animal studies	—	—
In vitro studies	—	1
Book	—	1
Website	2	—
Data on file	—	—
Other journal articles	2	1
Other references	8	1
Total retrievable references = 111	92	19

Research article includes randomized controlled trials, randomized placebo controlled trials, nonrandomized trials, clinical trials without details of design, observational studies without details of design, retrospective studies, case-control studies, and postmarketing surveillance studies.
Other journal articles: case report, correspondence article, editorial, and letter to the editor.
Other references: conference proceedings, report, departmental study, therapeutic guidelines, newspaper article, health magazine article, unpublished trial or surveillance data, online medicine prescription information, physicians’ desk reference, pharma-aid, and reference with vague description.
: Number of references.