Caroline Struthers, Education and Training Manager at The EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network describes how this international initiative promotes transparent and accurate reporting and wider use of robust reporting guidelines.

Recorded 3 May 2017 at a MedComms Networking event in Oxford. Produced by NetworkPharma.tv

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ABSTRACT:

Widespread deficiencies in the reporting of clinical research existed until little more than a decade ago. Development of the CONSORT guidelines for conducting and reporting clinical trials in 1996 was the first attempt to address this practically. Other reporting guidelines followed, including STROBE for observational studies, STARD for studies of diagnostic test accuracy and PRISMA for systematic reviews. However, the message was not getting through either to researchers or to the journals publishing clinical research. The EQUATOR Network was launched in 2006 to address this deficit and ensure that guidance on research reporting could be easily found and widely used.

CONSORT is the most established and well-known guideline for clinical trials reporting on the EQUATOR database; it now includes many extensions to cover the growing variability in trial design. Other guidelines of relevance for medical communications professionals include the SAMPL guideline for reporting statistical methods, and GNOSIS, for reporting Phase I and II studies. Numerous guidelines exist for different clinical specialities, and guidelines on case reporting and adverse events reporting may be useful aids to pharmacovigilance. The EQUATOR website gives easy access to its extensive database of reporting guidelines (now 359 in total!) along with a wide range of free resources to support those involved in writing and publishing research. These include a set of practical online toolkits, for example one on writing up research. The EQUATOR Network also hosts annual lecture events to promote their mission, and highly regarded face-to-face training that includes hands-on writing activities.

Written by Penny Gray, Freelance Medical Writer

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We are building a library of free webcasts, like this one, for the global MedComms Community and others at http://www.networkpharma.tv and we’d welcome your suggestions for new topics and speakers.

Full details of this MedComms Networking event are at http://medcommsnetworking.com/event_030517.html

Caroline’s presentation (PDF format) is at http://medcommsnetworking.com/presentations/struthers_030517.pdf

Caroline’s Linkedin page is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinestruthers/

More about the EQUATOR Network can be found at http://www.equator-network.org

Filming and technical direction by Mario Crispino, Freelance Cameraman & Editor

[For the avoidance of doubt: this video is intended to be freely accessible to all. Please feel free to share and use however you like. Cheers, Peter Llewellyn, Director NetworkPharma Ltd and Founder of the MedComms Networking Community activity at http://www.medcommsnetworking.com]