A Catalogue of Reporting Guidelines for Health Research REVIEW
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2362.2009.02234.x REVIEW A catalogue of reporting guidelines for health research I. Simera*, D. Moher†, J. Hoey‡, K. F. Schulz§ and D. G. Altman* *University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, †Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, ‡University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, §UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA ABSTRACT Growing evidence demonstrates widespread deficiencies in the reporting of health research studies. The EQUATOR Network is an international initiative that aims to enhance the reliability and value of the published health research literature. EQUATOR provides resources, education and training to facilitate good research reporting and assists in the development, dissemination and implementation of robust reporting guidelines. This paper presents a collection of tools and guidelines available on the EQUATOR website (http://www.equator- network.org) that have been developed to increase the accuracy and transparency of health research reporting. Keywords EQUATOR Network, reporting guidelines, research reporting. Eur J Clin Invest 2010; 40 (1): 35–53 Many scientific articles are written merely to get something reporting of harms [7]; presenting data and graphs in confusing published, neglecting the clinician who would like the medical and misleading ways [8]; and omissions from or misinterpreta- literature to guide their practice [1]. tion of results in abstracts [9]. These deficiencies seriously distort scientific reality [10] and Introduction prevent clinicians from applying effective interventions in patients’ care [5]. Boxes 1 and 2 show just two of the numerous The main purpose of investing money into health research is to examples of problems identified in the research literature.
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