Phase 2) Sampling and validating the extracted articles

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A sample of 50 of the most popular articles meeting our inclusion criteria will be generated from each of the two social media platform-based lists. This occurs in two phases: first the two platform lists are combined into a single list, then the articles are screened for meeting our inclusion criteria.

Media/scientific article pairs are defined as a news media article and its associated scientific study for the screening process. Inclusion criteria are applied for each media/scientific article pair. The selection process is based on the media article title and full article and the abstract of the scientific article.

Inclusion criteria

  1. The URL link to media article is functional at the time of the review, leading to the main media article.
  2. The news media article reports primarily about the findings from a single scientific article published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.
  3. The scientific article referred to in the media article is identifiable through academic library sources.
  4. The news media article reports that the scientific article:
    1. Has a main analysis of the form exposure (dependent variable) vs. outcome (independent variable).
    2. Has a health outcome as one of its main outcomes (independent variables).
    3. Has strongly related primary exposures/outcomes if multiple exposures/outcomes are equally emphasized.
    4. Is measured in a human population.
    5. Is a primary study, and not a review or meta-analysis.
    6. Has main results generated from a single identifiable statistical model.
  5. The abstract of the scientific article:
    1. Has a main analysis of the form exposure (dependent variable) vs. outcome (independent variable).
    2. Has a health outcome as one of its main outcomes (independent variables).
    3. Has strongly related primary exposures/outcomes if multiple exposures/outcomes are equally emphasized.
    4. Is measured in a human population.
    5. Is a primary study, and not a review or meta-analysis.
    6. Has main results generated from a single identifiable statistical model.

Note: 4f) and 5f) were added to the inclusion criteria list post-hoc after a case study and a journal article consisting of multiple primary sub-studies were selected into the final review based on existing inclusion criteria.

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