THE BURDEN OF PROOF In this issue, five Burden of Proof studies from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation present a new method for assessing the cumulative strength of available

evidence for risk factors and associated health outcomes. Together, these papers describe the methodology and demonstrate the utility of the approach with exemplars over which the burden of

proof spans a range of certainty. The magnifying glass in the cover image represents the burden of proof risk function, which enables a closer view of risk factors and the evidence for

associated health outcomes. See Zheng et al. Image: Annika Newell. Cover design: Marina Spence.