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To the Editor: Dr Risch and colleagues¹ concluded that the results of a study² showing that the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) genotype moderates the effect of stressful life events on the risk of depression could not be replicated in a meta-analysis of 14 studies. The authors pointed out the importance of replication studies before new findings are translated into clinical and health practices. We believe that it is also important to note that editorial practices of scientific journals may contribute to the lack of attention received by studies that fail to replicate original findings.

The original study² was published in 2003 in Science, a prominent journal with a very high impact factor that year.³ In the year following its publication, it was cited 110 times in sources indexed in the Web of Science citation report.⁴ In 2005, the first study that failed to replicate the original finding⁵ . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Nina Rieckmann, PhD
nina.rieckmann@charite.de
Berlin School of Public Health

Michael A. Rapp, MD, PhD
Department of Psychiatry

Jacqueline Müller-Nordhorn, MD, DPH
Berlin School of Public Health
Charité University Medical Center
Berlin, Germany

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