Research Library
Placebo research library
A starting collection of independent sources on placebo and open-label placebo research — read the research, not the marketing. Every item links to the original publication or institution. Citation does not imply endorsement of Efficacy Labs.
Currently indexed
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NIH)
Placebo Effects: What the Science Says
A public-health overview of how placebo responses are studied and what researchers currently understand about them.
Ongoing
(opens in a new tab)Scientific Reports / PubMed
Open-label placebo treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis
A pooled analysis of trials in which participants were told they were receiving a placebo. Reported effects vary by population, outcome and methodology.
2021
(opens in a new tab)PLoS ONE / PubMed
Placebos without deception: a randomized controlled trial in IBS
An early open-label placebo trial that prompted much of the subsequent research interest in non-deceptive placebo administration.
2010
(opens in a new tab)The New England Journal of Medicine
Placebo and nocebo effects
A review article describing mechanisms researchers have proposed for placebo and nocebo responses, and the limits of current evidence.
2020
(opens in a new tab)Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School
Program in Placebo Studies (PiPS)
An academic research program dedicated to the study of placebo effects and the patient–clinician relationship.
Ongoing
(opens in a new tab)National Library of Medicine
PubMed: open-label placebo literature
The primary index for peer-reviewed literature on placebo and open-label placebo research.
Ongoing
(opens in a new tab)
This library is being built.
We are assembling a broader, categorised index of placebo literature — including open-label placebo trials, mechanism research, nocebo studies and methodological reviews. If you have published work you think belongs here, or you are looking for something specific, tell us.