Reporting guidelines

We’ve talked about preregistration as a way to be transparent before you collect your data. How about once you’ve collected your data and are writing up your research? You should be honest about how you conducted your study, and anything that has changed since you planned (and perhaps preregistered) it. One way of being transparent when writing up your research is to use reporting guidelines.

Reporting guidelines are sets of rules or standards that help researchers present their findings clearly and transparently. They're like a checklist that ensures all-important information about a study is included in a research paper. These guidelines vary depending on the type of study or field of research, but they generally help researchers communicate their methods, results and conclusions effectively, making it easier for others to understand and evaluate their work.

Here are some reporting guidelines for different fields:

  

STROBE (STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology)

  • STROBE provides a checklist to enhance the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology, encompassing key aspects such as study design, participant selection, data collection methods, and statistical analysis.

  

COREQ (COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research)

  • COREQ provides a checklist of items that researchers should address when reporting qualitative research, covering aspects such as study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

  

EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research)

  • EQUATOR provides a variety of reporting guideline templates for various branches of health research, including reporting guidelines for randomised trials, observational studies, systematic reviews, qualitative research, animal studies, economic evaluations, and more.

  

There are many benefits to using reporting guidelines. Most obviously, they help researchers to clearly and comprehensively communicate all the important information about their study. This is helpful for the researcher themselves, and for anyone else who wants to read, understand, and potentially build upon their work. However, if you’re unable to find reporting guidelines for your particular field, being as transparent as possible and including as much detail as possible is your best bet!

  

Activity 2:

Allow about 30 minutes

In the activity below, you get the chance to practise writing your own simple set of guidelines.

Imagine that your friend has some very important news to tell you. Create a set of reporting guidelines for them, so that they can make sure to include all relevant information about what happened and the people involved when telling you the news. Fill the reporting guidelines out for the piece of news to make sure the guidelines include everything you would need.

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Discussion

Here’s an example of what this might look like:

  1. Briefly describe the news: Sanjay is moving to Argentina!
  2. Outline short descriptions of all people involved in this piece of news: Sanjay is a 30-year-old sociology researcher who currently lives in the UK.
  3. Outline important dates relevant to the news: Sanjay will be moving in September 2026.
  4. Provide any background reasoning for the news: Sanjay has been offered a research job in Argentina.

Preregistration activity

Applying open research in your own work: The open research decision tree