Trust/untrust is not the same as true/false. Lessons learned and ethical questions on the application of untrustworthiness scales to judge individuals.

WHAT IT FOUND

This editorial explains how a journal investigated and retracted suspect trials using trustworthiness scales.

It discusses the ethical difficulty of distinguishing untrustworthy data from false results, but it contains no clinical findings or patient outcomes for therapists to apply.

What this paper is

This is an editorial commentary discussing the process of investigating and retracting untrustworthy randomized controlled trials published in a rehabilitation journal. It describes the journal's internal verification steps and debates the ethical questions surrounding trustworthiness scales, but it reports no patient data, no clinical outcomes, and no evidence regarding treatment efficacy. There is nothing here to change clinical practice.

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