The EQUATOR Network and Research Reporting Guidelines: Why Specialized Reporting Guidelines Matter?

Hey Readers!

As spring brings new beginnings, we are pleased to present the March 2024 edition of JPLogue, which is filled with important aspects of research writing. As always, we aim to provide you with accurate and up-to-date information on the latest advancements in publishing.

We are pleased to inform you that Jaypee Health Science Publisher’s ?journals are now listed in Sherpa Romeo! It is the most ?widespread database that provides invaluable insight into publishers' open-access policies and journal archiving permissions. This inclusion signifies ?assurance of transparency and accessibility in scholarly publishing, ensuring that our valuable research reaches a wider audience while adhering to best practices in academic dissemination.

This significant milestone follows our discussions last month regarding Plan S compliance, where we discussed the evolving landscape of open-access publishing and its implications for researchers and publishers alike. As we navigate these changes, our integration into Sherpa Romeo marks a proactive step in aligning with global initiatives promoting open science and impartial access to knowledge.

Moreover, this month, we're focusing on something near and dear to every medical researcher's heart: Equator reporting guidelines. From CONSORT to STROBE, these guidelines are the backbone of rigorous research reporting.

An Introduction to Equator Guidelines

Equator Reporting Guidelines is a collection of rules designed to improve the quality and transparency of health research reporting. In any field of scientific study, it is important to accurately and transparently report research findings to promote knowledge, report clinical practice, and encourage evidence-based decision-making.

Equator Network—Enhancing the Quality and Transparency Of Health Research (EQUATOR) is a global initiative committed to promoting transparent and complete reporting of health research projects. These guidelines were established in response to concerns about the reliability and reproducibility of research findings. The Equator provides guidelines for different study designs and methodologies.

In this newsletter, we will discuss the significance of Equator Guidelines, explore their components, and explain how adhering to these guidelines’ benefits researchers, clinicians, and policymakers in addition to wider communities at large. From randomized controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews (SRs), observational studies (OS), etc., Equator Guidelines are crucial instruments that ensure accuracy, replicability and access by all concerned parties in any scientific information.

The basic principles on which Equator Guidelines have been developed, which empower researchers to conduct high-quality studies towards global development can be understood as follows:

Understanding Equator Network's Reporting Guidelines

Equator Guidelines include different sections that are suited for various kinds of research designs and methodologies. These units provide building blocks towards transparent and extensive health research reporting. Let us now take a closer look at some of the key components of a manuscript.

1.???? Title and Abstract: The title should be so brief as to give the reader a hint about what is contained in the study. The abstract gives an account of the aims, methods, findings, and conclusions of a study which allows readers to see if it is relevant or not.

2.???? Introduction: This section provides background information, rationale, and objectives for conducting this research. It must present the research question or hypothesis clearly to take readers through why and how the study was done.

3.???? Methods: This section explains research design, participant inclusion and exclusion criteria, interventions or exposures, data collection methods and statistical analyses. Transparency in reporting is critical to making sure that readers have a chance to assess the soundness of the study methods.

4.???? Results: The results are summarized in an orderly in this part using appropriate tables, figures and statistical measures that will be useful for the interpretation of this study by readers. It should provide sufficient detail so that the findings can be understood correctly without any flowery language or speculation.

5.???? Discussion: The discussion interprets the study findings’ relevance to their existing literature context, implications, limitations, and future research directions. It should not overstate the importance of the findings and must acknowledge any potential biases or confounding factors.

6.???? Conclusion: In conclusion, the purpose of this paper is to present our main findings from this work and highlight their relevance to clinical practice, research or policy development. Be brief and focused – let your message be clear after reading your paper.

7.???? Funding and Conflicts of Interest: Transparency with respect to funding sources as well as conflicts of interest plays a crucial role in maintaining integrity and confidence in study’s findings. The authors should recognize all financial relationships and affiliations that have the potential to influence the interpretation of study results.

8.???? Additional Reporting Guidelines: Equator guidelines may have additional components for different types of research depending on the kind of study design: CONSORT for randomized controlled trials, STROBE for observational studies or PRISMA for systematic reviews.

9.???? Compliance with Reporting Standards: Equator guidelines adherence promotes transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility by ensuring that research articles meet established reporting standards. Journals and reviewers may use Equator guidelines as a benchmark to evaluate the quality and completeness of research manuscripts.

These elements contribute to enhanced ?quality and transparency in the reporting of health research findings, which ultimately helps advance knowledge, clinical practice changes, and evidence-based decision-making. Researchers who uphold Equator guidelines raise trust among readers by contributing to a value where scientific analysis is carried out with integrity and accountability.

Various Equator Reporting Guidelines

There are 617 types of reporting guidelines developed by the Equator Network, each corresponding to specific study designs or methodologies. Here are some of the main types of reporting guidelines along with their corresponding study designs:

1.???? CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) - for randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

2.???? STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) - for observational studies.

3.???? PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) - for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

4.???? STARD (Standards for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies) - for diagnostic accuracy studies.

5.???? ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) - for animal research studies.

6.???? COREQ (Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research) - for qualitative research studies.

7.???? TREND (Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs) - for nonrandomized evaluations.

8.???? SQUIRE (Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence) - for quality improvement studies.

9.???? PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols) - for systematic review protocols.

10.? MIAME (Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment): MIAME is for microarray experiments, ensuring that researchers provide comprehensive information about experimental design, sample handling, data processing, and analysis in microarray studies.

11.? STREGA (Strengthening the Reporting of Genetic Association Studies): STREGA provides guidelines for reporting genetic association studies, aiming to enhance transparency and quality in the reporting of genetic epidemiology research, including candidate gene and genome-wide association studies.

12.? CHEERS (Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards): CHEERS is designed for health economic evaluations, providing guidance on reporting economic studies alongside clinical trials or observational studies, ensuring transparency in economic analysis methods and results.

13.? REMARK (REporting recommendations for tumor MARKer prognostic studies): REMARK guidelines focus on the reporting of tumor marker prognostic studies, providing recommendations for transparent and accurate reporting of biomarker studies, including study design, patient characteristics, and statistical analysis.

14.? STROBE-ME (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology-Molecular Epidemiology): STROBE-ME extends the STROBE guidelines to molecular epidemiology studies, providing specific recommendations for reporting observational studies that investigate genetic and environmental factors in disease risk.

15.? SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials): SPIRIT guidelines focus on the content of clinical trial protocols, ensuring that researchers include all essential elements in their trial protocols to facilitate transparency, reproducibility, and understanding of the trial's methodology.

16.? CONSORT-PRO (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials - Patient-Reported Outcomes): CONSORT-PRO provides guidance on reporting trials that include patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

17.? PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: Scoping Reviews): PRISMA-ScR is tailored for reporting scoping reviews, providing guidance on transparently reporting the process of scoping reviews, including the search strategy, selection criteria, and data extraction methods.

18.? STAMP (STAndards for the Reporting of Measurement Properties): STAMP guidelines focus on reporting studies that evaluate the measurement properties of health-related outcome measures, ensuring transparent reporting of the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of measurement instruments.

19.? AGREE (Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation): AGREE guidelines are designed for the development and reporting of clinical practice guidelines, providing criteria for assessing the methodological quality and transparency of guideline development processes.

20.? CONSORT-NPT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials: Non-Pharmacological Treatments): CONSORT-NPT provides guidance for reporting randomized controlled trials that assess non-pharmacological treatments, ensuring transparent reporting of interventions such as behavioural therapies, surgical procedures, or lifestyle interventions.

These are just a few examples of the many reporting guidelines available through the Equator Network. Each guideline aims to improve the transparency and quality of reporting within its specific study design or methodology, thereby enhancing the reliability and reproducibility of research findings across various fields of health research.

Why Specialized Reporting Guidelines Matter?

Reporting guidelines often have more profound specifications or specialized versions for detailed study designs or contexts. For instance, CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) has extensions such as CONSORT-PRO (for trials involving patient-reported outcomes) and CONSORT-NPT (for trials evaluating non-pharmacological treatments). Likewise, there are more than 40 types of reporting trials. Similarly, PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) has a specialized version, PRISMA-P (for reporting systematic review protocols). These specialized guidelines serve several important purposes:

?1. Contextual Relevance:?Different types of studies have unique characteristics and methodological relations. Specialized procedures provide detailed recommendations that address each study type's specific nuances and challenges. For example, reporting a clinical trial involving patient-reported outcomes requires additional considerations compared to a trial evaluating pharmaceutical interventions.

?2. Enhanced Transparency:?Specialized guidelines guarantee that all relevant aspects of the study are transparently reported, including specific methodologies, interventions, outcomes, and analyses. This transparency is crucial for readers, reviewers, and stakeholders to understand the study's context, validity, and potential implications accurately.

?3. Improved Reproducibility:?By providing detailed specifications and reporting standards, specialized guidelines improve the reproducibility of research findings. Researchers following these guidelines can confirm that their studies are conducted and reported invariably and replicable, facilitating the proof and verification of results by others in the scientific community.

?4.?Facilitated Interpretation:?Specialized guidelines help formalize reporting across similar studies, making it easier for readers to compare and interpret findings. Uniform reporting formats help efficiently synthesize evidence, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews, leading to more reliable conclusions and informed decision-making in clinical practice, policy development, and research prioritization.

?5.?Targeted Guidance:?Researchers may face unique challenges or considerations specific to their study type or context. Specialized guidelines provide:

->Targeted advice on addressing these challenges.

->Optimizing study design.

->Data collection.

->Analysis.

->Reporting processes to meet the highest standards of methodological rigour and scientific integrity.?

Using specific guidelines for specific study types enhances the quality, transparency, and relevance of research reporting. It promotes consistency, reproducibility, and interpretability of findings, ultimately growing knowledge, improving patient care, and guiding evidence-based decision-making in healthcare. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to select and stick to the most appropriate reporting guidelines corresponding to their study design or methodology to secure strict, transparent, and impactful research dissemination.

At Jaypee

At Jaypee, we understand the importance of following reporting guidelines in research, and we offer ample support throughout submission to help authors comply with the Equator guidelines. To do this, authors must upload the appropriate Equator Network reporting checklist for their study type at the time of submission. Moreover, we have made all main reporting guidelines available on our website.

Our editorial policies emphasize the importance of following standard reporting guidelines for various study types. Whether submitting original articles, review articles or case reports, authors are motivated to follow relevant Equator guidelines, such as CONSORT for randomized controlled trials or PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Our editorial team provides clear instructions on reporting requirements and guarantees that manuscripts undergo a thorough evaluation to support the highest standards of transparency and integrity in research reporting. By encouraging access to reporting guidelines and supporting authors in their work, we aim to improve the quality and impact of published research in healthcare and medicine.

Let's work together on this journey to spread awareness of medical publishing knowledge and shape the future of scholarly publishing.

Happy reading!

Thank you to

During the creation of this newsletter, we did an in-depth study of https://www.equator-network.org/. We kindly request all researchers to visit the website to gain a better understanding of the subject and select appropriate guidelines while preparing the manuscript.