A tool to make reporting checklists work.

Ana Marušić

doi:10.1186/s12916-015-0476-3

Abstract

Although the use of reporting guidelines has been demonstrated to increase the completeness and transparency of health research published in journals, there is still a long way to translate their use to the authors at the time where they are needed – during the actual research process and manuscript writing. An online tool for writing methodology section of a randomized controlled trial has been successfully tested in an experimental setting and provides a direction for the development of writing tools for health research. Writing tools should not replace original thinking and the excitement of communicating original discoveries, but make sure that all relevant data are in the manuscript so that research results can be understood, critically evaluated and used in practice.Please see related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/13/221

Highlights

I am a physician by training, and a journal editor by chance
Based on the 2010 CONSORT reporting guideline [2] and its explanatory document [3], the tool was tested in a sample of masters and doctoral students in public health and significantly increased the completeness of reporting for most of the methodological domains in an randomized controlled trial (RCT) report compared to a classical writing exercise
The primary users of reporting guidelines should be the researchers and authors, who may find their use unavoidable and horrifying at the same time. They have to meet the expectations of journals about reporting guidelines. They may not be sure which reporting guideline to choose and how to follow it: a checklist may have over 20 items [2], many of which are difficult to understand for an average clinical researcher without good knowledge of clinical epidemiology, while the “Explanation and Elaboration” documents sometimes have over 30 pages [3]

Summary

Introduction

I am a physician by training, and a journal editor by chance. Both of these professions require discipline and use of aids, such as checklists, to compensate for the limits of human memory and attention and to prevent errors (in patient treatment or manuscript management). Based on the 2010 CONSORT reporting guideline [2] and its explanatory document [3], the tool was tested in a sample of masters and doctoral students in public health and significantly increased the completeness of reporting for most of the methodological domains in an RCT report compared to a classical writing exercise.

Results

Conclusion