Choosing and using a reporting guideline

This branch covers a writer’s use of reporting guidelines, divided by the decisions and responsibilities involved: understanding their purpose, locating and following guidance, selecting applicable recommendations, addressing cross-cutting reporting needs and supporting implementation. Manuscript structure, detailed reporting by study design, protocol preparation and analytical editing belong to neighbouring branches.

• What a reporting guideline is and why a writer uses one — minimum information, expert consensus, practical benefits and judgement within journal requirements
• Where the reporting guidelines are collected — the EQUATOR Network, specialty resources and a reference manual
• Keeping up as reporting guidelines change — revisions, extensions and new guidance for specific research
• The ICMJE recommendations — purpose, scope, committee, journal adoption and revisions
• Finding the guideline that fits the study — research questions, study designs, study-type checklists and specialised guidance
• Reporting statistics with the SAMPL guidelines — scope, reporting deficiencies, verification and reuse of results
• Reporting sex and gender with SAGER — terminology, scope and recommendations by manuscript section
• Reporting harms — event definitions, reporting by section, reassuring wording, poor practices and discrepancies across documents
• Being the writer who brings the guideline — responsibilities to authors and sponsors, practical team support and regulatory use
• Endorsement of reporting guidelines and compliance — journal endorsement, active implementation, policy adoption and reported PRISMA compliance