title: Relation of completeness of reporting of health research to journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines: systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether the completeness of reporting of health research is related to journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reporting guidelines from a published systematic review and the EQUATOR Network (October 2011). Studies assessing the completeness of reporting by using an included reporting guideline (termed "evaluations") (1990 to October 2011; addendum searches in January 2012) from searches of either Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Methodology Register or Scopus, depending on reporting guideline name.
  
  
  METHODS
  English language reporting guidelines that provided explicit guidance for reporting, described the guidance development process, and indicated use of a consensus development process were included. The CONSORT statement was excluded, as evaluations of adherence to CONSORT had previously been reviewed. English or French language evaluations of included reporting guidelines were eligible if they assessed the completeness of reporting of studies as a primary intent and those included studies enabled the comparisons of interest (that is, after versus before journal endorsement and/or endorsing versus non-endorsing journals).
  
  
  METHODS
  Potentially eligible evaluations of included guidelines were screened initially by title and abstract and then as full text reports. If eligibility was unclear, authors of evaluations were contacted; journals' websites were consulted for endorsement information where needed. The completeness of reporting of reporting guidelines was analyzed in relation to endorsement by item and, where consistent with the authors' analysis, a mean summed score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  101 reporting guidelines were included. Of 15,249 records retrieved from the search for evaluations, 26 evaluations that assessed completeness of reporting in relation to endorsement for nine reporting guidelines were identified. Of those, 13 evaluations assessing seven reporting guidelines (BMJ economic checklist, CONSORT for harms, PRISMA, QUOROM, STARD, STRICTA, and STROBE) could be analyzed. Reporting guideline items were assessed by few evaluations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The completeness of reporting of only nine of 101 health research reporting guidelines (excluding CONSORT) has been evaluated in relation to journals' endorsement. Items from seven reporting guidelines were quantitatively analyzed, by few evaluations each. Insufficient evidence exists to determine the relation between journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines and the completeness of reporting of published health research reports. Journal editors and researchers should consider collaborative prospectively designed, controlled studies to provide more robust evidence.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Not registered; no known register currently accepts protocols for methodology systematic reviews.
authors: Centre for Practice-Changing Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 8L6.
authors: Adrienne
authors: A
authors: Stevens
authors: Centre for Practice-Changing Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 8L6 Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, K1H 8M5 Ottawa, Canada.
authors: Larissa
authors: L
authors: Shamseer
authors: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors: Erica
authors: E
authors: Weinstein
authors: Centre for Practice-Changing Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 8L6.
authors: Fatemeh
authors: F
authors: Yazdi
authors: Centre for Practice-Changing Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 8L6.
authors: Lucy
authors: L
authors: Turner
authors: Centre for Practice-Changing Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 8L6.
authors: Justin
authors: J
authors: Thielman
authors: Centre for Statistics in Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LD, UK.
authors: Douglas G
authors: DG
authors: Altman
authors: Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
authors: Allison
authors: A
authors: Hirst
authors: Population and Public Health Initiative, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada, K7L 3N6.
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Hoey
authors: Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, St Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6Z 1Y9 Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V5Z 1M9.
authors: Anita
authors: A
authors: Palepu
authors: International Clinical Sciences Support Center, FHI 360, Durham, NC 27713, USA.
authors: Kenneth F
authors: KF
authors: Schulz
authors: Centre for Practice-Changing Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 8L6 Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, K1H 8M5 Ottawa, Canada dmoher@ohri.ca.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Moher
mesh_terms: D019983:Guideline Adherence; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D011643:Publishing / Q000592:standards*; D058028:Research Report / Q000592:standards*