Reporting Guidelines of theEQUATOR Network
APAME Convention, Tokyo
4th August 2013
Dr. Anita Jain
India Editor, BMJ

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Session Outline• Background• Frequently used reporting guidelines• EQUATOR Network• Impact on quality of reporting research• Barriers to their use• What may we do as journal editors

Problems in reporting• Of 616 published reports of randomized trials,% of studies that reported:– A primary outcome: 53%– Sample size calculation: 45%– Random sequence generation: 34%– Allocation concealment: 25%– Blinding: 56%– Participant flow diagram: 28%BMJ. 2010 Mar 23;340:c723. doi:
10.1136/bmj.c723. The quality ofreports of randomised trials in 2000 and2006: comparative study of articles
indexed in PubMed. Hopewell S, Dutton
S, Yu LM, Chan AW, Altman DG

Knowledge Creation Cycle
ResearchPublication

Reporting Guidelines

Knowledge
Dissemination

Of 80 published studies oftreatment important for clinicalpractice , less than halfreported elements of theintervention necessary forreplication.

http://www.equator-network.org/resource-centre/library-ofhealth-research-reporting/presentations/Key aspects of reportingguidelines• Minimum set of items critical to ensure reliability andreproducibility of the research• Guidance to authors to ensure completeness of reporting andfor editors and reviewers to evaluate• Not an indicator of methodological quality of the study

Reporting Guidelines• CONSORT: RCTs
• PRISMA: Meta-analysis of RCTs
• STROBE: Observational studies• MOOSE: Meta-analysis of observational studies• STARD: Diagnostic accuracy studies• CHEERS: Economic evaluation• …..

http://www.consortstatement.org/consort-statement/Enhancing the QUAlity & Transparency
Of health Research

http://www.equator-network.org/

Impact of reporting guidelines
Improvement in the quality and completenessof reporting; but still sub-optimal
86% of systematic reviews report sub-optimal adherence toreporting guidelines [CONSORT, PRISMA, QUORUM,STROBE] and inadequate reporting quality

J Multidiscip Healthc. 2013 May 6;6:169-88. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S43952.
A systematic scoping review of adherence to reporting guidelines inhealth care literature. Samaan Z, Mbuagbaw L, Kosa D, et al.

Japan: Adherence to CONSORTOf 98 published reports of RCTs:– Sample size determination: 23%– Random sequence generation: 39%– Allocation concealment: 17%– Blinding: 29%– Numbers analyzed: 53%– Flow diagram: 6%– Funding sources: 20%

Intern Med. 2009;48(5):307-13. Quality ofreports on randomized controlled trials
conducted in Japan: evaluation of adherence
to the CONSORT statement. Uetani K,
Nakayama T, Ikai H, Yonemoto N, Moher D.

Raise your hand if…..
• You are or have been an editor of amedical journal• ‘Instructions to authors’ of your journal indicates thereporting guidelines/checklists to be complied with
• You do not accept a paper unless the appropriate
checklist has been completed and submitted

Barriers Identified• Poor adherence to guidelines by authors• Lack of endorsement by journals• Unclear communication to authors about
reporting expectations of the journal

What journal editors can do• Select appropriate guidelines to endorse• Make explicit the endorsement:– Instructions to authors– Guidance for peer reviewers– Manuscript submission system• Spread the word and stay updated
How to implement reporting guidelines in your journal: guidancefrom EQUATORBMJ: Instructions to Authors

Selection ofguidelines toendorse
http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors/article-types/research

BMJ: Instructions to Authors

Link toresources

Clear instructions
on expectations

Purposehttp://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors/article-types/research

BMJ: Guidance to Peer Reviewers

Administrative changes

A Committed Movement- Doug Altman