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PAHO partners with EQUATOR to improve health research reporting in Latin America

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is partnering with the EQUATOR Network to improve reporting on research for health in the Americas through the use of guidelines that promote greater accuracy and transparency.

Under an agreement signed this month, PAHO will translate EQUATOR’s guidelines on the reporting of research results, and promote their use for the benefit of PAHO member countries in Latin America. The goal of the partnership is to make more research write-ups fit for publication and use in policymaking and clinical practice.

"Complete, accurate, and transparent reporting is an integral part of responsible research conduct," said EQUATOR Network Chair Prof. Doug Altman. "Reporting guidelines like the CONSORT statement help to improve the quality of research reports."

Studies have shown that reports on the findings of health research frequently lack crucial information, making it difficult for peer reviewers, readers, and others to assess the validity and reliability of the results. This problem can largely be overcome through the use of common guidelines and standards.

The new partnership will allow EQUATOR to broaden the outreach of its website resources in this area to all Spanish-speaking countries and provides PAHO with an opportunity to promote adherence to international reporting standards and help raise the quality of publications and research reporting in the Americas.

"Papers that follow the EQUATOR guidelines will have a better chance of being published and adherence to these guidelines contributes to enhanced transparency and better use of research results," said Dr. Luis Gabriel Cuervo, Regional Advisor on Health Research Promotion and Development at PAHO. "Better reporting standards within national health research systems should bring better returns for investment in research for health, by facilitating the use and implementation of research results."

"This is a very first attempt to translate the EQUATOR Library for Health Research Reporting," said Dr. Iveta Simera, Head of EQUATOR Programme Development. "We look forward to working with PAHO to gradually customize all our resources for authors, editors and peer reviewers to make them very relevant to the local needs."

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Posted by Iveta Simera
Based on press release prepared by PAHO, 16 July 2010:

English: http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?lang=en
Spanish: http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?lang=es