Comments Regarding the New Revised STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA): Extending the CONSORT Statement

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Medical AcupunctureVol. 22, No. 3 EditorialsOpen AccessComments Regarding the New Revised STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA): Extending the CONSORT StatementRichard C. NiemtzowRichard C. NiemtzowSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:13 Sep 2010https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2010.2024AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) has been revised and along with the revision is an Extension for Acupuncture.1Medical Acupunture has long supported STRICTA and we have, as much as possible, used this as a simple guideline in reviewing and publishing articles. Now things have changed and we should welcome the effort to amplify the quality of acupuncture reporting.It is the desire of this new and revised STRICTA, in conjunction with the main CONSORT Statement, to raise the quality of reporting clinical trials of acupuncture. The checklists are especially geared to be a mirror-like reflection of the important areas of STRICTA to help authors produce more scientific depth. I believe that you will be able to “grab and go” with the STRICTA requirements and integrate them with the Medical Acupuncture's Instructions for Authors. Your efforts should seamlessly and coherently come together.The new STRICTA requirements are voluminous. A print-out of this document yielded 21 pages; almost enough to dwarf any article published in Medical Acupuncture. However, all 63 exquisite international references brilliantly support the content of this superlative revision. Worldwide experts who assisted in contributing their recommendations to this effort made it perfectly clear that for acupuncture clinical trials, it is time to get down to business! Executing these reporting standards will clearly demonstrate the power and the presence of acupuncture!I would like to simplify the steps for authors which should be helpful and make it straightforward to producing an article for Medical Acupuncture. It will also help all authors to plan their clinical trials appropriately as you read the guidelines. It will point you in the right direction.Medical Acupuncture's Instructions for Authors are available at www.liebertpub.com/acu. I strongly encourage you to carefully read them before preparing your manuscript. Note that the “Conclusions” section in our journal instructions has been deleted to be in compliance with the new STRICTA “Discussion” recommendations.Tables 1 and 2 below are reproduced from the new STRICTA guidelines, and should be closely followed when preparing your manuscripts: TITLE (Example) John K. Jones, MD (Use main credential only)ABSTRACT: (1ab Table 2) KEY WORDSINTRODUCTION: (Statement of hypothesis of the research should be incorporated here) TABLE 2,2abMETHODOLOGY: Refer also to the new STRICTA checklist (Table 1)The italicized 1-6 below is information that must appear in the METHODOLOGY. Acupuncture rationale 1abc as appropriateDetails of needling 2(a) to 2(g)Treatment regimen 3abOther components of treatment 4abPractitioner Background 5Control or Comparator interventions 6abFollow Table 2 for all other elements: TRIAL DESIGN 3abPARTICIPANTS 4abINTERVENTIONS 5OUTCOMES 6abSAMPLE SIZE 7ab6. RANDOMIZATIONSequence generation 8abAllocation Concealment 9Implementation 10Blinding 11abStatistical methods 12ab7. RESULTSParticipant flow 13abImplementation Recruitment 14ab Baseline data 15 Numbers analyzed 16 Outcomes and Estimations 17ab Ancillary Analyses 18 Harms 198. DISCUSSIONLimitations 20Generalizability 21Interpretation 229. OTHER INFORMATIONRegistration 23Protocol 24Funding 25Many of the articles in our journal are singular case reports. In achieving publications of these articles it is obvious that some components of STRICTA may not be applicable. Nevertheless we need to strive and maintain the quality of this journal. I urge you to plan and prepare your manuscripts carefully. Also remember that while a single case is interesting, it is not conclusive, and is subjected to much scrutiny, especially by myself as Editor-in-Chief, and the peer reviewers.Reference1 www.consort-statement.org1. www.consort-statement.org Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byStandards in Yoga Research and Reporting Volume 22Issue 3Sep 2010 InformationCopyright 2010, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Richard C. Niemtzow.Comments Regarding the New Revised STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA): Extending the CONSORT Statement.Medical Acupuncture.Sep 2010.155-156.http://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2010.2024creative commons licensePublished in Volume: 22 Issue 3: September 13, 2010PDF download