Table 2. Check list of 43 published papers used for assessment of the frequency of un-adequated study design.

Study	Sample size reported for the experiment?	Number of observations reported for the experiment	Value of test statistics, exact p value and degrees of freedom reported	Error bars correspond to the analysis (i.e. standard error is based on number of independent observations)	Only independent observations were taken into account for statistical tests	Is there negative control?	Was positive control necessary, and if so, was it used?	Were treatments randomly allocated to experimental units?	Number of citations
Study 1	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	71
Study 2	yes	no	no	no	It is not clear	yes	no	no	25
Stdey 3	yes	no	no	no	unclear	no	no	no	11
Study 4	yes	yes	yes	Not shown	yes	yes	yes	no	64
Study 5	yes	yes	no	unclear	unclear	yes	no	no	7
Study 6	no	yes	no	yes	unclear	yes	no	no	23
Study 7	no	yes	no	no	unclear	no	yes	no	1
Study 8	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	no	Yes, but nor explained how	5
Study 9	no	no	yes	Not clear	Not clear	yes	no	no	36
Study 10	no	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	Mentioned, but not explained	8
Study 11	yes	yes	no	yes	Not clear	yes	no	no	3
Study 12	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	4
Study 13	no	yes	no	yes	yes	no	no	Not applicable	33
Study 14	no	yes	no	Not shown	no	no	no	Not applicable	122
Study 15	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	60
Study 16	yes	yes	no	Not applicable	Not clear	no	yes	Not applicable	4
Study 17	yes	yes	no	yes	Not clear	yes	no	Not applicable	12
Study 18	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	153
Study 19	No	yes	No	Not clear	No	Yes	Yes	no	8
Study 20	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	Not applicable	12
Study 21	yes	yes	no	Not applicable	yes	no	yes	no	5
Study 22	yes	yes	no	Not applicable	yes	yes	no	Not applicable	9
Study 23	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	2
Study 24	yes	yes	no	Not clear	yes	yes	no	no	6
Study 25	no	no	no	Not applicable	Not clear	no	no	no	19
Study 26.	No	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	11
Study 27	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	no	Not applicable	9
Study 28	no	no	no	Not applicable	Not clear	no	no	Not applicable	159
Study 29	yes	no	no	yes	Not clear	yes	yes	no	20
Study 30	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	no	no	27
Study 31	yes	No	no	Not clear	Not clear	yes	no	no	8
Study 32	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	3
Study 33	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	Not applicable	yes	7
Study 34	No	Yes	no	yes	Not clear	yes	yes	no	1
Study 35	yes	yes	no	yes	Not clear	yes	yes	no	30
Study 36	no	yes	no	no	no	yes	yes	no	50
Study 37	no	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	13
Study 38	yes	yes	yes	Not applicable	yes	yes	Not applicable	Not applicable	31
Study 39	no	yes	no	Not clear	Nor clear	yes	No	no	41
Study 40	yes	yes	no	Not clear	Not clear	yes	yes	no	7
Study 41	yes	yes	no	Not clear	Not clear	yes	Not applicable	no	49
Study 42	no	yes	no	Not clear	Not clear	yes	Not applicable	no	22
Study 43	No	No	no	Not clear	Not clear	yes	yes	no	40