Journal of Applied Sciences1812-56541812-5662Asian Network for Scientific Information10.3923/jas.2012.1413.1417Nik IdrisNik Ruzni1220121213Publication bias is a serious problem in meta-analysis. Various methods have been developed to detect the presence of publication bias in meta-analysis. These methods have been assessed and compared in many dichotomous studies utilizing the log-odds ratio as the measure of effect. This study evaluates and compares the performance of three popular methods, namely the Eggers linear regression method, the Begg and Mazumdars rank correlation method and the Duval and Tweedies trim and fill method, on meta-analysis of continuous data. The data comprised simulated meta-analyses with different levels of primary studies in the absence and presence of induced publication bias. The performances of these methods were measured through the power and type 1 error rate for the tests. The results suggest the trim and fill method to be superior in terms of its ability to detect publication bias when it exists, even in presence of only 5% unpublished studies. However, this method is not recommended for large meta-analysis as it produces high rate of false-positive results. Both linear regression and rank correlation method performed relatively well in moderate bias but should be avoided in small meta-analysis as their power is very low in this data.]]>Al-Khasawneh, M.F.,20103115Begg, C.B. and J.A. Berlin,1988151419463Begg, C.B. and M. Mazumdar,19945010881101Boroni, G. and A. Clausse,20111127232733Dear, K.B.G. and C.B. Begg,19927237245Dickersin, K.,20052005pp: 11-34pp: 11-34Duval, S.J. and R.L. Tweedie,2000958998Egger, M., S.G. Davey, M. Schneider and C. Mider,1997315629634El-Messoussi, S., H. Hafid, A. Lahrouni and M. Afif,2007Ceratitis capitata (diptera: tephritidae).]]>6374377Givens, G.H., D.D. Smith and R.L. Tweedie,199712221250Shams-ul-Islam and C.Y. Zhou,20098513520Light, R.J., J.D. Singer and J.B. Willet,19941994pp: 439-453pp: 439-453Macaskill, P., S.D. Walter and L. Irwig,200120641654Nath, D.C. and A. Bhattacharjee,201257181Peters, L.J., A.J. Sutton, D.R. Jones, K.R. Abrams and L. Rushton,2006295676680Prakash, N. and T. Karunanithi,20092127Salha, R. and H.E.S. Ahmed,2009218Sterne, J.A.C., D. Gavaghan and M. Egger,20005311191129Sutton, A.J., S.J. Duvall, R.L. Tweedie, K.R Abrams and D.R. Jones,200032015741576Terrin, N., C.H. Schmid and J. Lau,200558894901Uysal, M.,20077922925Yin, J., S.C. Zeng, Y.Z. Luo and J.L. Han,20116805813Zhang, J.L., D.H. Liu, Z.H. Wang, C. Yu, J.H. Cao, C.T. Wang and D.M. Jin,20098285292