Guidelines for Reporting Various Types of Studies

Greetings again. I hope you’re doing well.

Recently an AuthorAID member mentioned writing about the ARRIVE guidelines. These guidelines are for papers reporting animal research. They recommend types of information to include in each part of a journal article reporting such research. (ARRIVE stands for Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments.)

Guidelines also exist for writing other types of articles. Examples include

• the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement, for reporting randomized controlled trials
• the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement
• the CARE statement (for writing case reports)

Such guidelines seem to be much more common for reports of health-related research than for reports of other research. The EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network website has links to more than 300 sets of guidelines!

Such guidelines, which typically are prepared by groups of experts, often can serve as checklists or templates. They can save authors from having to decide from the beginning what to include in their papers. They also can help peer reviewers and journal editors to check whether papers are complete.

Of course, such guidelines are just starting points. If something is relevant to include in a paper, an author should include it, even if the guidelines do not list it.

Is there a set of guidelines that you recommend for articles reporting your type of research? If so, please post a comment.

Meanwhile, perhaps I should come up with the BARBARA (Best And Rightest Blog And Resource Advice) guidelines.

Until the next post—

Barbara