HOW TO PUBLISH A RESEARCH PAPER: REPORTING GUIDELINES

NOVEMBER, 15, 2014

Janna Friedly M.D.

Assistant Professor

University of Washington

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine

Associate Director, Comparative Effectiveness, Cost and Outcomes Research Center (CECORC)

DISCLOSURES

• Financial: None

• Other: Associate Editor for Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

• Completeness of reporting of RCTs is not optimal

• Use of mandatory reporting guidelines improves completeness

• Fraud in reporting is still an issue

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Nov Consolidated standards of reporting trials (CONSORT) and the completeness of reporting of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in medical journals. Turner et. al.

BACKGROUND

ELEVATING THE QUALITY OF DISABILITY AND REHABILITATION RESEARCH: MANDATORY USE

OF THE REPORTING GUIDELINES

Chan L, Heinemann AW, Roberts J. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014;95(3):415–17.

1. Reporting guidelines are tools developed to aid accurate and complete reporting of key aspects of research studies.

2. They are becoming required for submissions by more and more journals (BMJ, Lancet, Archives).

3. A large group of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation journals (28+) have agreed to require these for submission.

REPORTING GUIDELINES

Five Main Guidelines

1. CONSORT – Randomized Controlled Trials (checklist & flow diagram)

2. STROBE – Observational Studies (checklist)

3. PRISMA – Systematic Reviews Meta-Analysis (checklist & flow diagram)

4. STARD – Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (checklist & flow diagram)

5. CARE – Case Reports (checklist)

Go to www.equator-network.org for more details.

REPORTING GUIDELINES

CONSORT CHECKLIST

LESS

WHAT DO EDITORS WANT: THE RUDIMENTS OF STYLE

•Short words

•Short sentences

•Short paragraphs

•No jargon, no cliches

•No abbreviations

•Nouns and verbs > adjectives and adverbs

•Active vs. passive writingoThe study showedoIt was shown

1. Review the appropriate reporting guideline when designing your research study

2. Involve a statistician as early as possible

3. Register all studies with Clinicaltrials.gov accurately, completely and before starting enrollment

4. Know your target journal and review requirements early

LESSONS LEARNED

Questions?

Thank You!