title: An assessment of the quality of reporting randomised controlled trials published in paediatric dentistry journals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objectives of this study are to compare the quality of reporting of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in 2011 and 2012 within five paediatric dentistry journals.
  
  
  METHODS
  RCTs published in the years 2011 and 2012 were hand-searched by one reviewer. After randomisation and blinding, these journals were independently scored by two blinded reviewers based on the CONSORT 2010 checklist.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 59 articles were included for analysis and 70 criteria were scored dichotomously as '1' when reported and '0' when not reported. Descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA tests were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Gwets AC1 Inter rater reliability coefficient was calculated as 0.85 (95 % C.I 0.84-0.86) indicating excellent correlation between the two reviewers. Only 19 articles (32.2 %) reported more than half (35/70) of the expected criteria. Descriptive statistics showed that sections such as introduction, results and discussion were reported better than abstract, materials and methods and other information. One-way ANOVA tests showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the reporting of criteria across different journals and there was also no significant difference between the articles published in 2011 and 2012 (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The general quality of reporting of RCTs in paediatric dentistry journals was inadequate. Authors, reviewers and journal guidelines must work together towards a common goal for improving the quality of reporting of RCTs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Dentistry and Special Care, PaeCaMeD Research, Ghent University, UZ Ghent, 1P8, De Pintelaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium, sivaprakash.rajasekharan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajasekharan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vandenbulcke
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martens
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D057189:Checklist; D006801:Humans; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry / Q000592:standards*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D011643:Publishing / Q000592:standards*; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000592:standards; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards