In her letter to the EQUATOR Network Dr Vivienne C. Bachelet, Editor-in-chief, Medwave and Executive director, Medwave Group states:

“Medwave fully supports transparent and accurate health research reporting and the EQUATOR Network.

We express this in our author and reviewer instructions and in the following editorials:

Editorial: The importance of EQUATOR Network as a resource to promote good reporting of research studies

Editorial: The requirement to disclose individual patient data in clinical studies will bring down the wall behind which the pharmaceutical industry hides the truth: the Kerkoporta is ajar

Editorial: Missing clinical trial data, but also missing publicly-funded health studies

Editorial: Why the Helsinki Declaration now encourages trial registration, and publication and dissemination of the results of research

Professor Lesley Stewart, director of the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) at the University of York, UK, expressed CRD’s strong support (PDF) to the EQUATOR Network and its activities.

We encourage more organisation to express their commitment to accurate and transparent reporting. To join the organisations supporting EQUATOR and its mission please email Iveta Simera ([email protected])

The NIHR Journals Library, which comprises a suite of five open access journals providing an important and permanent archive of research funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research, is currently updating its guidance to express its support to the Declaration of transparency. The NIHR Journals Library will ask authors to sign a transparency declaration when they submit their reports for publication.

Publishing protocols is a crucial element of the process of producing Cochrane Reviews. PROSPERO, the international prospective register of systematic reviews in health and social care now provides a place to register protocol information for all such reviews.

PROSPERO is web-based, free to search and open for free registration to anyone undertaking a systematic review with a health-related outcome. Launched in February 2011, PROSPERO, now contains registrations of over 2,300 reviews being undertaken in 63 different countries.

There exists a close relationship between the CRD databases and The Cochrane Library. The CRD databases (DARE, NHS EED and the HTA database) are a component part of The Cochrane Library. In addition to quality assessed reviews DARE contains details of all Cochrane reviews and protocols.

The Cochrane review process and PROSPERO also share common aims: to help avoid unplanned duplication of reviews and minimise the risk of bias by making the production of reviews transparent.

From the inception of PROSPERO, The Cochrane Collaboration has been a strong supporter of the principle of registration of protocols for all systematic reviews. This support has been mobilised in the agreement that new Cochrane protocols are to be included in PROSPERO, and the subsequent joint work to make this happen.

We have now completed work to deliver an automated upload of key features from new Cochrane protocols for intervention and diagnostic test accuracy reviews. There is a good match between the fields in Archie and those in the PROSPERO registration form. Records will be published to PROSPERO and an email sent to the lead author on the Cochrane review to let them know. If there are any queries the lead author can contact the PROSPERO administration staff.

As more and more new Cochrane protocols are included in PROSPERO, we look forward to seeing not only the direct benefits of facilitation of efficient use of research funding and safeguarding against bias, but also the indirect benefits from nudges to improve the quality of systematic reviews and the decisions that rely upon them. We would like to thank everyone for their help and cooperation in putting the Cochrane icing on the PROSPERO cake.

David Tovey, Editor in Chief, The Cochrane Library ([email protected])

Alison Booth and Lesley Stewart, NIHR Centre for Reviews and Dissemination University of York YORK, ([email protected])

The Montreal Statement on Research Integrity in Cross-Boundary Research Collaborations was developed as part of the 3rd World Conference on Research Integrity, 5 – 8 May 2013, in Montréal, as a global guide to the responsible conduct of research. It is not a regulatory document and does not represent the official policies of the countries or organizations that funded or participated in the Conference.

Read the Montreal Statement (PDF)

The EQUATOR Network aims to develop more specialised resources to help librarians/information specialists to raise awareness about reporting guidelines.

Recently, PAHO country office librarians under the PAHO HQ library joined a virtual session where the initiative “Improving research reporting in Latin America and the Caribbean” was presented. The session was moderated by Shona Kirtley and supported by Iveta Simera and Eleana C Villanueva. Shona explained why librarians and information specialists are key in this project, alerted participants of the resources available to them on the EQUATOR website. Shona also invited participants to join the initiative.

For more information visit: the EQUATOR Librarian Network

PAHO research newsletter (PDF) October 2013

A Repository of Ongoing Training Opportunities is available on the WAME website. It includes a list of ongoing training opportunities for authors of peer-reviewed scientific publications, manuscript peer reviewers, and editors of scientific journals.

The repository was developed as part of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded project led by Dr David Moher and Dr James Galipeau. The project also included a systematic review of the effectiveness of training programs in writing for scholarly publication, manuscript peer review, and journal editing (i.e., journalology). The purpose of the repository is to provide a resource for authors, peer reviewers, and editors to obtain information about the range of training options that exist in to improve the quality of reporting of studies in scientific journals.

Reference:

A Repository of Ongoing Training Opportunities (Accessed on 8 November 2013)

On 31 October 2013 Professor Doug Altman and Dr Iveta Simera were delighted to run the EQUATOR workshop at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. Over 40 people attended the workshop that focused on “Reporting guidelines: Can their use make the work of systematic reviewers and guideline developers better?”

The programme and slides can be accessed here.

BJOG has introduced the requirement for authors to adhere to the declaration of transparency, that was recently published in a BMJ editorial, by introducing a new field within their submission form. The journal will also be highlighting this requirement within their editorial policies.

To view the names of all journals supporting the Declaration of Transparency please visit this page.