title: An assessment of the compliance of systematic review articles published in craniofacial surgery with the PRISMA statement guidelines: A systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Systematic review evidence is increasing within craniofacial surgery. Compliance with recognised reporting guidelines for systematic review evidence has not been assessed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the compliance of systematic reviews published in craniofacial journals with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) reporting criteria.
  Thomson Reuters impact factor was used to identify three top craniofacial journals. A search for all systematic review articles published in these journals from 1st May 2010 to 30th April 2015 was conducted using MEDLINE PubMed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two independent researchers assessed each study for inclusion and performed the data extraction. Data included the article reference information; the pathology and interventions examined and compliance of each review article with the PRISMA checklist.
  97 studies were returned by the search. 62 studies proceeded to data extraction. The mean percentage of applicable PRISMA items that were met across all studies was 72.5% (range 28.6-96.2%). The area of poorest compliance was with the declaration of a study protocol (19.4% of studies). Only 37.1% of studies declared their source of funding.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compliance of systematic review articles within craniofacial surgery with areas of the PRISMA checklist could be improved.
authors: The Academic Surgical Collaborative, UK; St. Andrew's Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns, Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 7ET, UK. Electronic address: tompidgeon@hotmail.com.
authors: Thomas Edward
authors: TE
authors: Pidgeon
authors: The Academic Surgical Collaborative, UK; Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, QMUL, London, E1 4NS, UK. Electronic address: georgina_wellstead@msn.com.
authors: Georgina
authors: G
authors: Wellstead
authors: The Academic Surgical Collaborative, UK; Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' School of Medical Education, King's College London, London, SE1 7EH, UK. Electronic address: h.k.sagoo@outlook.com.
authors: Harkiran
authors: H
authors: Sagoo
authors: The Academic Surgical Collaborative, UK; UCL Medical School, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: daniyal.jafree.13@ucl.ac.uk.
authors: Daniyal J
authors: DJ
authors: Jafree
authors: The Academic Surgical Collaborative, UK; Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, SE1 7EH, UK. Electronic address: alexjfowler@gmail.com.
authors: Alexander J
authors: AJ
authors: Fowler
authors: The Academic Surgical Collaborative, UK; Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, SE1 7EH, UK; Balliol College, University of Oxford, OX1 3BJ, UK. Electronic address: mail@riazagha.com.
authors: Riaz A
authors: RA
authors: Agha
mesh_terms: D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D057909:Orthognathic Surgery / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012196:Review Literature as Topic
keywords: Craniofacial surgery; PRISMA; Systematic review