Read this article about the EQUATOR Network (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research).
By: Duncan A. MacRae, Director, Open Access, Editorial, Wolters Kluwer Health
Across the more than 30,000 biomedical journals being published, how can editors assess the quality of your article over another? How can readers be assured that valuable information about research methods hasn’t been omitted, or that the outcomes have not been selectively reported? Errors such as these can lead to inaccurate conclusions, which in turn can have a serious impact on medical practice and decision-making. In order to assist authors, reviewers and editors, and provide effective quality control across all biomedical journals, the EQUATOR Network (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) “develops and maintains a comprehensive collection of online resources providing up-to-date information, tools, and other materials related to health research reporting.”
EQUATOR Network
Founded in 2006, the EQUATOR Network publishes over 250 research reporting guidelines and operates three centers in the United Kingdom, Canada, and France that raise awareness and support adoption of good research reporting practices. The EQUATOR Network website maintains a comprehensive, up-to-date list of guidelines and a series of toolkits designed for authors, editors, developers, librarians, and teachers.
Research reporting guidelines
Guidelines provide specific recommendations for the reporting of different types of research. They are written by experts in study design, epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methodology, and have been developed to accommodate both general research types (e.g., randomized trials, systematic reviews) and more specific ones (e.g., reporting body fluid biomarker research studies in neurologic disorders). Many of these guidelines include detailed checklists of items that can be included in your manuscript as part of a submission, and in some cases a flow diagram that displays the progress of all participants through the trial is also included (see Table 1).