Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency of health Research: The EQUATOR Network
Lead Research Organisation:
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
Department Name: Centre for Statisics in Medicine
Abstract
Every year scientific journals publish tens of thousands of articles describing findings from health research studies. However, readers and users of these articles, who include scientists, clinicians, systematic reviewers, and increasingly also patients, find many of these articles very difficult or impossible to use: many articles do not present enough information, present only selected information, or present information in a very unclear and misleading way. All this makes many papers unusable. The effort and money devoted to the research described in such an unsatisfactory manner is wasted.
A simple solution to improve the completeness, accuracy and clarity of research papers is to follow reporting guidelines. Many guidelines exist that provide step by step guidance of what should be addressed in a paper reporting on a particular type of health research. These guidelines have been developed from the users' perspective and guide authors to provide minimum information a user needs to assess how well was the study done, to decide if the findings are relevant to his/her own work, and if needed to reproduce the study (ie. what was actually done and to whom, what was assessed and how, how were these findings analysed, and what they actually mean in the context of other similar studies). Although many good guidelines exist they are still not widely known and used by health scientists. Recent reviews of publications consistently show that essential information is missing from a large proportion of research articles.
In this time of massive information overload it is important to have a single good quality resource where you can easily find all relevant information you need. In 2008, we launched the EQUATOR programme that aims to enhance the quality and transparency of health research. One of the most important outputs of this programme is a free online Library for Health Research Reporting that brings together all published reporting guidelines and other helpful tools that aid the writing and publication of research reports and thus improve the information provided to readers.
The EQUATOR team educates scientist and journal editors, who play a key role in safeguarding the quality of published papers, to increase their knowledge of what should be included in research papers and how best to achieve it.
EQUATOR also helps scientists to develop high quality reporting guidelines and conducts research investigating problems in research reporting.
Our proposal outlines specific deliverables and activities for the next three years that will further advance the programme. The main outputs include: improved structure and content of our Library; development of unique EQUATOR 'signature' courses supporting rigorous research reporting; compilation of a manual for the development of robust reporting guidelines; a research report summarising the use of reporting guidelines by selected priority journals; and a database of evaluations of reporting quality of scientific papers across health research specialties.
Medical journals publish large numbers of research reports that are of limited value because of crucial omissions. This waste is avoidable. The EQUATOR website and training can be compared to a well stocked and well promoted supermarket where you can get everything you need to write and publish first class research papers. The knowledge of what needs to be included in research papers that are clear and easy to use also improves the design of future research studies. Our work helps to improve usability and usefulness of published medical research and helps scientists to become outstanding research communicators.
A simple solution to improve the completeness, accuracy and clarity of research papers is to follow reporting guidelines. Many guidelines exist that provide step by step guidance of what should be addressed in a paper reporting on a particular type of health research. These guidelines have been developed from the users' perspective and guide authors to provide minimum information a user needs to assess how well was the study done, to decide if the findings are relevant to his/her own work, and if needed to reproduce the study (ie. what was actually done and to whom, what was assessed and how, how were these findings analysed, and what they actually mean in the context of other similar studies). Although many good guidelines exist they are still not widely known and used by health scientists. Recent reviews of publications consistently show that essential information is missing from a large proportion of research articles.
In this time of massive information overload it is important to have a single good quality resource where you can easily find all relevant information you need. In 2008, we launched the EQUATOR programme that aims to enhance the quality and transparency of health research. One of the most important outputs of this programme is a free online Library for Health Research Reporting that brings together all published reporting guidelines and other helpful tools that aid the writing and publication of research reports and thus improve the information provided to readers.
The EQUATOR team educates scientist and journal editors, who play a key role in safeguarding the quality of published papers, to increase their knowledge of what should be included in research papers and how best to achieve it.
EQUATOR also helps scientists to develop high quality reporting guidelines and conducts research investigating problems in research reporting.
Our proposal outlines specific deliverables and activities for the next three years that will further advance the programme. The main outputs include: improved structure and content of our Library; development of unique EQUATOR 'signature' courses supporting rigorous research reporting; compilation of a manual for the development of robust reporting guidelines; a research report summarising the use of reporting guidelines by selected priority journals; and a database of evaluations of reporting quality of scientific papers across health research specialties.
Medical journals publish large numbers of research reports that are of limited value because of crucial omissions. This waste is avoidable. The EQUATOR website and training can be compared to a well stocked and well promoted supermarket where you can get everything you need to write and publish first class research papers. The knowledge of what needs to be included in research papers that are clear and easy to use also improves the design of future research studies. Our work helps to improve usability and usefulness of published medical research and helps scientists to become outstanding research communicators.
Technical Summary
The EQUATOR Network is an international initiative that seeks to improve the reliability and value of the published health research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting. The main focus of our activities is to support scientists, editors, and peer reviewers in writing and publishing well reported research studies that are easy to appraise and use in further research, clinical practice and policy-making. Indirectly, EQUATOR supports the improvement of the design and conduct of future research studies.
The EQUATOR Network developed a unique online Library for Health Research Reporting that pulls together all guidelines for reporting health research studies. We promote rigorous research reporting, introduce available reporting guidelines, and support their use through a wide range of activities. Our research programme informs all aspects of the EQUATOR work, such as further Library development, teaching activities, and assisting in the development of new reporting guidelines. Examples of our recent projects include a systematic review of reporting guidelines; a survey of reporting guideline developers; publication of guidance on how to develop reporting guidelines; a survey of journals' instructions to authors and peer reviewers (ongoing); and development of a tool assessing the quality of reporting guidelines (ongoing).
The EQUATOR Network is seeking continuation of its MRC financial support for the period of 2011 - 2014 to further advance its programme. This proposal outlines specific deliverables and activities for the next three years. The main outputs include:
- Upgraded online Library for Health Research Reporting
- First two of the EQUATOR 'signature' courses (for methodology editors; for research students)
- Manual for the development of reporting guidelines
- Research report summarising the use of reporting guidelines by journals
- Database of evaluations of reporting quality across health research specialties
The EQUATOR Network developed a unique online Library for Health Research Reporting that pulls together all guidelines for reporting health research studies. We promote rigorous research reporting, introduce available reporting guidelines, and support their use through a wide range of activities. Our research programme informs all aspects of the EQUATOR work, such as further Library development, teaching activities, and assisting in the development of new reporting guidelines. Examples of our recent projects include a systematic review of reporting guidelines; a survey of reporting guideline developers; publication of guidance on how to develop reporting guidelines; a survey of journals' instructions to authors and peer reviewers (ongoing); and development of a tool assessing the quality of reporting guidelines (ongoing).
The EQUATOR Network is seeking continuation of its MRC financial support for the period of 2011 - 2014 to further advance its programme. This proposal outlines specific deliverables and activities for the next three years. The main outputs include:
- Upgraded online Library for Health Research Reporting
- First two of the EQUATOR 'signature' courses (for methodology editors; for research students)
- Manual for the development of reporting guidelines
- Research report summarising the use of reporting guidelines by journals
- Database of evaluations of reporting quality across health research specialties
Planned Impact
The work of EQUATOR increases the usability of available research evidence which facilitates its better translation into practice. Our work supports the work of organisations like the Cochrane Collaboration in the development of systematic reviews and NICE in the development of clinical practice guidelines. EQUATOR also helps research funders maximise the utility of new information arising from the research they fund.
Since its launch three and half years ago the EQUATOR website has attracted 165,000 visits (around 115,000 unique visitors) from almost all countries in the world. The use of our resources is constantly increasing (in May 2011 we had almost 7,000 visits). Reference to EQUATOR and reporting guidelines is included in the most used and required guidance for preparing biomedical manuscripts developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, and in many journals' instructions to authors, including the world's leading medical journals such as the Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, etc..
Currently much research reporting is inadequate. Reporting guidelines are important and effective tools for achieving high standards in reporting health studies. In order to reach their potential, reporting guidelines need to be implemented widely and routinely by researchers, authors, editors and peer reviewers. Availability of easily accessible robust guidelines, awareness of their existence and knowledge on how to use them facilitates their use. The EQUATOR Network can substantially contribute to the prevention of poor reporting and introduction of best reporting practice by leading a global collaboration between the research and publishing communities. This effort needs to be strongly supported by research funders and regulatory bodies.
Since its launch three and half years ago the EQUATOR website has attracted 165,000 visits (around 115,000 unique visitors) from almost all countries in the world. The use of our resources is constantly increasing (in May 2011 we had almost 7,000 visits). Reference to EQUATOR and reporting guidelines is included in the most used and required guidance for preparing biomedical manuscripts developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, and in many journals' instructions to authors, including the world's leading medical journals such as the Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, etc..
Currently much research reporting is inadequate. Reporting guidelines are important and effective tools for achieving high standards in reporting health studies. In order to reach their potential, reporting guidelines need to be implemented widely and routinely by researchers, authors, editors and peer reviewers. Availability of easily accessible robust guidelines, awareness of their existence and knowledge on how to use them facilitates their use. The EQUATOR Network can substantially contribute to the prevention of poor reporting and introduction of best reporting practice by leading a global collaboration between the research and publishing communities. This effort needs to be strongly supported by research funders and regulatory bodies.
Organisations
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Florida (Collaboration)
- Annual Reviews (Collaboration)
- Pan American Health Organization (Collaboration)
- University of Minnesota (Collaboration)
- University of Paris - Descartes (Collaboration)
- University of Ottawa (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Collaboration)
- Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Collaboration)
- Penelope Research (Collaboration)
- African Journal Partnership Program (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Collaboration)
- The Lancet (Collaboration)
- Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (Collaboration)
- Bond University (Collaboration)
- NHS HEALTH RESEARCH AUTHORITY (Collaboration)
- University of Toronto (Collaboration)
- Monash University (Collaboration)
Publications
Korevaar D
(2016)
Updating standards for reporting diagnostic accuracy: the development of STARD 2015
in Research Integrity and Peer Review
Mayo-Wilson E
(2013)
Developing a reporting guideline for social and psychological intervention trials.
in Trials
Moher D
(2015)
Four Proposals to Help Improve the Medical Research Literature.
in PLoS medicine
Montgomery P
(2013)
Protocol for CONSORT-SPI: an extension for social and psychological interventions.
in Implementation science : IS
Montgomery P
(2013)
Developing a reporting guideline for social and psychological intervention trials.
in American journal of public health
Osborne NJ
(2017)
Letter to the editor - round table unites to tackle culture change in an effort to improve animal research reporting.
in BMC veterinary research
Page MJ
(2016)
Epidemiology and Reporting Characteristics of Systematic Reviews of Biomedical Research: A Cross-Sectional Study.
in PLoS medicine
Rethlefsen ML
(2021)
PRISMA-S: an extension to the PRISMA Statement for Reporting Literature Searches in Systematic Reviews.
in Systematic reviews
Reveiz L
(2013)
Compliance with clinical trial registration and reporting guidelines by Latin American and Caribbean journals.
in Cadernos de saude publica
| Description | Citation and endorsement of reporting guidelines and EQUATOR by editorial organisations and journals |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | Improved research reporting skills in researchers, peer reviewers and journal editors result in more reliable health research information that can be better translated into effective patient care. Accurate, complete and transparent research reporting also minimises waste that occurs when research publications cannot be used further. |
| Description | Citation of resources developed by our group by a number journals, research institutions, and funders |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| URL | http://www.consort-statement.org/about-consort/impact-of-consort |
| Description | Collaboration with the Health Research Authority to improve transparency of health research |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | CSO Grant |
| Amount | £15,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Chief Scientist Office |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2009 |
| End | 03/2012 |
| Description | GoodReports: An online tool helping authors find and use reporting checklists to improve completeness of reporting |
| Amount | £420,429 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2019 |
| End | 08/2022 |
| Description | Health Research Authority - collaboration |
| Amount | £160,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | NHS Health Research Authority |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2014 |
| End | 03/2016 |
| Description | NIHR Grant |
| Amount | £240,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | National Institute for Health Research |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2010 |
| End | 03/2013 |
| Description | NIHR Health Technology Assessment |
| Amount | £117,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | National Institute for Health Research |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2016 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | National Institute for Innovation and Improvement Grant |
| Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | NHS England |
| Department | NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2008 |
| End | 04/2009 |
| Description | Pan American Health Organization support |
| Amount | $9,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | Pan American Health Organization |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 05/2013 |
| End | 06/2014 |
| Title | Complete redesign of our online toolkits pages |
| Description | We have completely redeveloped our online toolkits to provide better and more efficent help for researchers, students and journals editors in publishing health research |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Research toolkits are one of the most accessed pages on our website. For example the Writing research toolkit was only launched in late 2016, but has already been accessed 2,000 times. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/toolkits/ |
| Title | EQUATOR Decision Tree - Electronic tool for effective selection of appropriate reporting guidelines |
| Description | The EQUATOR Decision Tree was developed in collaboration with Penelope Research. This tool helps researchers to identify the appropriate reporting guideline for their study. It has been made available online in a graphical format, and is also used to power the EQUATOR wizard. The decision tree and wizard initially developed in 2016, then were updated in 2018 after a pilot study. The updated decision tree includes more reporting guidelines, including reporting guidelines for protocols. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Based on website analytics data, about 20% of EQUATOR Network website users use the EQUATOR Decision Tree. A tweet sharing the Tree as an image was seen by 12,000 people. The Tree was updated in 2018 based on comments gathered from users, such as from Twitter, and through a pilot study of the Wizard by BMC. The EQUATOR Decision Tree has been used as the basis for the EQUATOR Wizard, an online application helping researchers to find the right reporting guideline by answering a series of questions. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/toolkits/selecting-the-appropriate-reporting-guideline/ |
| Title | Tookits |
| Description | Collection of materials that help in promoting and implementing guidance provided in our Library for Health Research Reporting. Toolkits focus on key user groups: - researchers (authors) - editors and peer reviewers - reporting guideline developers - teachers - librarians and information specialists |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The toolkits section is currently under development, with many new tools being added. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/toolkits/ |
| Title | EQUATOR Librarian Network web page |
| Description | Web page with resources aimed at highlighting current international issues regarding research reporting, research waste and reproducibility, with the aim of encouraging biomedical librarians to take action to help address these issues amongst the clinicians and researchers with whom they work. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | We have seen increased awareness and activity amongst biomedical librarians regarding issues of biomedical research reporting, research waste, and reproducibility, from 2016 till present (2019). We regulary receive email requests to join the EQUATOR Librarian Network. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/librarians/ |
| Title | EQUATOR Reporting Guideline database |
| Description | Regularly updated comprehensive database of published reporting guidelines for reporting biomedical research for publication. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Journals/publishers increasingly ask authors to check our database before submission and provide links to the EQUATOR database. Authors increasingly contact us to ask which reporting guideline they should use to report their particular study. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/ |
| Title | EQUATOR collection of reporting guidelines by specialty |
| Description | Web page that brings together all currently available reporting guidelines arranged by specialty to help researchers and clinicians to more quickly and easily find reporting guidelines relevant their research. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This collection provides a more accessible way to access reporting guidelines relevant to particular specialties. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/library/browse-reporting-guidelines-by-specialty/ |
| Title | EQUATOR reporting guideline translations page |
| Description | Regularly updated web page that brings together all currently available translations of reporting guidelines. In 2017/2018, it included 115 links to translations of reporting guidelines, E&E papers, checklists and flow diagrams in 16 languages. In 2018/2019, it included 124 links to translations of reporting guidelines, E&E papers, checklists and flow diagrams in 17 languages. In 2019/2020, it included 118 links to translations of reporting guidelines, E&E papers, checklists and flow diagrams in 16 languages. In 2020/2021, it included 131 links to translations of reporting guidelines, E&E papers, checklists and flow diagrams in 16 languages. In 2021/2022, it included 143 links to translations of reporting guidelines, E&E papers, checklists and flow diagrams in 16 languages. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Regular contact from authors/translators requesting that guideline translations be added to this page or enquiring if they could be given permission to translate particular reporting guidelines. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/library/translations-of-reporting-guidelines/ |
| Title | Library for Health Research Reporting: Database of research reporting guidelines |
| Description | Our Library for Health Research Reporting is a fully searchable coded database of reporting guidelines publications and other resources that facilitate the responsible publication of health related research. The database is regularly updated and now contains approximately 450 reporting guidelines. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The database is hosted online on the EQUATOR website. It is frequently visited and used by users from all around the world (74,000 per month to the website, and constantly rising). It can and has been used as a resource for identifying available reporting guidelines and for conducting research into the development of these guidelines, their impact, or gaps in their availability. Journals/publishers increasingly ask authors to check our database before submission and provide links to the EQUATOR database. Authors increasingly contact us to ask which reporting guideline they should use to report their particular study, and often let us know afterwards if their research papers were successfully published following their enquiry to us for advice. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/ |
| Title | Reporting guidelines under development registry |
| Description | Regularly updated web pages that list reporting guidelines that are currently under development, with details about development teams and protocols, where available. Guideline developers register their planned guidelines with us for inclusion on these pages. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The resources has helped to avoid duplication of guideline development. Potential developers often check this page and check in with us before starting the development process. When protocols are published, some authors include a link to the entry for their guideline under development on our registrations page. We have seen increased awareness within the research community of the existence of our regisry, with requests for registration rising. |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/library/reporting-guidelines-under-development/ |
| Description | Australian EQUATOR Centre |
| Organisation | Bond University |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | One of the goals of the EQUATOR Network is to achieve global presence to support responsible research reporting efficiently. In 201 we started setting up centres in other countries. EQUATOR team based in the UK (HQ of the Network) supports teams in other countries and collaborates on various projects including research studies and organisation of conferences, meetings and workshops. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EQUATOR Centres work together to promote responsible reporting of health research studies. Centre members collaborate on research projects, teaching and promotion activities. |
| Impact | 1. Launch meeting 2. Elaine Beller of the Australian Centre joined the 2016 EQUATOR Publication School as a facilitator 3. The Australian Centre has run a short, 2-day version of the EQUATOR Publication School (December 2016), using their experiences of the EQUATOR Publication School in Oxford. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Canadian EQUATOR Centre |
| Organisation | Ottawa Hospital Research Institute |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | One of the goals of the EQUATOR Network is to achieve global presence to support responsible research reporting efficiently. In 2014 we started setting up centres in other countries. EQUATOR team based in the UK (HQ of the Network) supports teams in other countries and collaborates on various projects including research studies and organisation of conferences, meetings and workshops. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EQUATOR Centres work together to promote responsible reporting of health research studies. Centre members collaborate on research projects, teaching and promotion activities. |
| Impact | Conference, teaching collaboration |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Collaboration with the Health Research Authority, UK |
| Organisation | NHS Health Research Authority |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The EQUATOR Network reviewed guidance on titles of research projects to propose recommendations to improve the clarity of titles of research proposals submitted to the Health Research Authority for ethical approval. The EQUATOR Network has undertaken public consultations on the HRA's behalf on steps that the HRA can take to promote good publication practice to improve transparency. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Practical implementation of proposed recommendations |
| Impact | 1. Study report on titles of research projects submitted to the Health Research Authority, UK 2. Public survey conducted by the EQUATOR Network on proposed changes to IRAS question A51, to promote good research dissemination practices. |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization to raise standards of health research reporting in the Pan American regions |
| Organisation | Pan American Health Organization |
| Department | PAHO Research Promotion and Development |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The main aim of the collaboration is to raise research reporting standards in South America. The initial phase of this collaboration was a translation of the EQUATOR Network's online Library for Health Research Reporting into Spanish. EQUATOR team members developed and maintain our Library, and produce regular newsletters that are now being translated into Spanish under this collaboration. We also heavily contribute to the direct and indirect dissemination of our work to South American journal editors. EQUATOR's Caroline Struthers, Jennifer de Beyer and Iveta Simera wrote and edited a significant proportion of a four-module online course on enhancing the value and use of research, which was published on the PAHO's CITI Training Platform in June 2017. EQUATOR's Michael Schlussel contributed a Portuguese promotional video. EQUATOR's Michael Schlussel and Patricia Logullo created a Portuguese translation of the modules. |
| Collaborator Contribution | PAHO has contributed translations, dissemination contacts and practical help with dissemination of the outputs of our collaborative work. PAHO contributed organisational, authorship, editorial and translation expertise to create a four-module online course on enhancing the value and use of research. PAHo translated the modules into Spanish and made them available on its Virtual Campus alongside the English version. PAHO supported the addition of automatic translation for the EQUATOR website (2022). |
| Impact | Spanish translation of the English EQUATOR Network website that hosts the online Library for Health Research Reporting. Portuguese translation of the English EQUATOR Network website that hosts the online Library for Health Research Reporting. Regular Spanish EQUATOR Newsletters Promotion campaign targetting South American health research journals Iveta Simera presented at the 4th University Internationalization Seminar organised by PAHO, the Organisation of American States and COIMBRA Group for high representatives of Brazilian Universities in 2016. In 2017, four published online modules were made available via the CITI Program in English, Portguguese and Spanish. The modules are also freely available to all PAHO-supported scholars via the PAHO Virtual Campus. Promotional videos in English, Portuguese and Spanish were also created. (https://www.campusvirtualsp.org/en) The modules have been translated in Spanish and Portuguese. |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | EQUATOR Network / African Journal Partnership Project |
| Organisation | African Journal Partnership Program |
| Country | Unknown |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The EQUATOR Network provides training and resources on research publication and reporting guidelines |
| Collaborator Contribution | The African Journal Partnership Project implements resources and reporting guidelines in African journals. |
| Impact | A workshop was conducted with the Partnership in Malawi in 2015, resulting in changes in participating journals' policies. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | EQUATOR Network / REWARD Alliance collaboration |
| Organisation | The Lancet |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The EQUATOR Network promotes and educates about the REWARD principles through its online presence. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The REWARD Alliance promotes and educates about the EQUATOR programme through its online presence |
| Impact | 1. An international conference was held in September 2015 in Edinburgh, Scotland. 2. An international conference was held in February 2020 in Berlin, Germany. The conference was hosted by a local centre (QUEST Berlin). |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | French EQUATOR Centre |
| Organisation | University of Paris - Descartes |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | One of the goals of the EQUATOR Network is to achieve global presence to support responsible research reporting efficiently. In 201 we started setting up centres in other countries. EQUATOR team based in the UK (HQ of the Network) supports teams in other countries and collaborates on various projects including research studies and organisation of conferences, meetings and workshops. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EQUATOR Centres work together to promote responsible reporting of health research studies. Centre members collaborate on research projects, teaching and promotion activities. |
| Impact | 1. Meetings. For example, Doug Altman was invited to speak at the University of Paris Descartes in 2016 about the quality of methods and reporting in the medical research literature. 2. Research collaboration 3. Teaching |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Global Health Network, University of Oxford |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaborative development of online learning, promoting online resources to improve publication of research |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative development of online learning, promoting online resources to improve publication of research |
| Impact | Online learning module: Introduction to responsible publication of clinical research |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | GoodReports Template project |
| Organisation | Penelope Research |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | This collaboration grew out of an existing collaboration with Penelope Research (Penelope Research Scientific Manuscript Review Software and EQUATOR Wizard). The UK EQUATOR Centre's Caroline Struthers conceived the project. She initially built a matrix that integrates and harmonises all of items from 16 main reporting guidelines and extensions for clinical research, which formed the base of the GoodReports tool. The tool makes it much easier for authors of research articles to identify and use all available reporting guidance relevant to their research at the point of writing it up, without having to find and use several separate documents. The UK EQUATOR Centre team is now contributing expertise in trial design, good reporting and academic writing, and experience in working with early-career researchers towards the further development and testing of the GoodReports tool, with Caroline Struthers continuing to take the lead on this project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Penelope Research brings software development expertise to the collaboration. In initial stages of this collaboration, a second software developer was involved. However, this involvement ended before any outputs were realised. The team has integrated the Penelope/EQUATOR Wizard for finding the correct reporting guideline with the matrix created by EQUATOR to create the GoodReports web app, which displays the appropriate online fillable reporting checklist for an author's study. Authors can either annotate where in their manuscript they have reported each checklist item online, or download the blank checklist in Word and fill it in offline. The filled checklist can then be submitted to a journal alongside the manuscript. The team is now further developing the GoodReports tool, to include more reporting guidelines, more examples of good reporting, and templates for guiding article writing. |
| Impact | The GoodReports web app, including the updated wizard and online reporting guideline generator, has been available since January 2018. It can be accessed independently from the EQUATOR website and as part of the Penelope manuscript checking software. BMJ Open piloted GoodReports as part of the full Penelope package in its submission process in 2018. The results of this pilot are currently being written up. As of March 2020, GoodReports has had 30,517 users. A third of the users have downloaded a blank or completed checklist. Penelope generates an email survey to ask for feedback from users. 702 people have responded so far, with 667 answering the rating question and giving an average rating of 8/10. In September 2019, the team began a three year MRC award to further develop GoodReports and test it in a randomised trial. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Improving the information literacy of early careers researchers - focus on biomedical reseachers |
| Organisation | Annual Reviews |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | EQUATOR Network's Shona Kirtley and her collaborators play an equal role in this partnership to improve the information literacy of early careers researchers. She is shaping the focus and future plans for the collaboration, using her expertise as an information specialist. All team members contributed towards conducting and writing up the systematic review. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EQUATOR Network's Shona Kirtley and her collaborators play an equal role in this partnership to improve the information literacy of early careers researchers. All team members contributed towards conducting and writing up the systematic review. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary with involvement of both librarians and a publisher. A conference abstract has been submitted to the Canadian Health Libraries Association Conference. The team have completed work on a literature review to identify problems and barriers that early career researchers face when undertaking a systematic review. The review was submitted for publication in January 2020. The conclusions of the review will inform development of an early career researcher needs and barriers identification survey. Work on the survey will begin in the summer of 2020. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Improving the information literacy of early careers researchers - focus on biomedical reseachers |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | EQUATOR Network's Shona Kirtley and her collaborators play an equal role in this partnership to improve the information literacy of early careers researchers. She is shaping the focus and future plans for the collaboration, using her expertise as an information specialist. All team members contributed towards conducting and writing up the systematic review. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EQUATOR Network's Shona Kirtley and her collaborators play an equal role in this partnership to improve the information literacy of early careers researchers. All team members contributed towards conducting and writing up the systematic review. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary with involvement of both librarians and a publisher. A conference abstract has been submitted to the Canadian Health Libraries Association Conference. The team have completed work on a literature review to identify problems and barriers that early career researchers face when undertaking a systematic review. The review was submitted for publication in January 2020. The conclusions of the review will inform development of an early career researcher needs and barriers identification survey. Work on the survey will begin in the summer of 2020. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Improving the information literacy of early careers researchers - focus on biomedical reseachers |
| Organisation | University of Ottawa |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | EQUATOR Network's Shona Kirtley and her collaborators play an equal role in this partnership to improve the information literacy of early careers researchers. She is shaping the focus and future plans for the collaboration, using her expertise as an information specialist. All team members contributed towards conducting and writing up the systematic review. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EQUATOR Network's Shona Kirtley and her collaborators play an equal role in this partnership to improve the information literacy of early careers researchers. All team members contributed towards conducting and writing up the systematic review. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary with involvement of both librarians and a publisher. A conference abstract has been submitted to the Canadian Health Libraries Association Conference. The team have completed work on a literature review to identify problems and barriers that early career researchers face when undertaking a systematic review. The review was submitted for publication in January 2020. The conclusions of the review will inform development of an early career researcher needs and barriers identification survey. Work on the survey will begin in the summer of 2020. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Improving the information literacy of early careers researchers - focus on biomedical reseachers |
| Organisation | University of Toronto |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | EQUATOR Network's Shona Kirtley and her collaborators play an equal role in this partnership to improve the information literacy of early careers researchers. She is shaping the focus and future plans for the collaboration, using her expertise as an information specialist. All team members contributed towards conducting and writing up the systematic review. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EQUATOR Network's Shona Kirtley and her collaborators play an equal role in this partnership to improve the information literacy of early careers researchers. All team members contributed towards conducting and writing up the systematic review. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary with involvement of both librarians and a publisher. A conference abstract has been submitted to the Canadian Health Libraries Association Conference. The team have completed work on a literature review to identify problems and barriers that early career researchers face when undertaking a systematic review. The review was submitted for publication in January 2020. The conclusions of the review will inform development of an early career researcher needs and barriers identification survey. Work on the survey will begin in the summer of 2020. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search) |
| Organisation | Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Shona Kirtley is a member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search). The group is leading the development of this much-needed reporting guidance, which is nearing completion. The background research, Delphi rounds, face-to-face meetings, public comment and guideline writing have all been completed and the manuscript has been submitted for publication. All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Impact | Three rounds of Delphi exercise were completed and one face-to-face meeting was held. The list of items identified during the Delphi rounds was refined and draft guidance released as a preprint on OSF and presented as a poster at the MLA conference in May 2019. The group has now revised the guideline following the feedback gathered from the public consultation. The guideline was submitted for publication on 27 February 2020 and was published in January 2021. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search) |
| Organisation | Monash University |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Shona Kirtley is a member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search). The group is leading the development of this much-needed reporting guidance, which is nearing completion. The background research, Delphi rounds, face-to-face meetings, public comment and guideline writing have all been completed and the manuscript has been submitted for publication. All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Impact | Three rounds of Delphi exercise were completed and one face-to-face meeting was held. The list of items identified during the Delphi rounds was refined and draft guidance released as a preprint on OSF and presented as a poster at the MLA conference in May 2019. The group has now revised the guideline following the feedback gathered from the public consultation. The guideline was submitted for publication on 27 February 2020 and was published in January 2021. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search) |
| Organisation | University of Florida |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Shona Kirtley is a member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search). The group is leading the development of this much-needed reporting guidance, which is nearing completion. The background research, Delphi rounds, face-to-face meetings, public comment and guideline writing have all been completed and the manuscript has been submitted for publication. All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Impact | Three rounds of Delphi exercise were completed and one face-to-face meeting was held. The list of items identified during the Delphi rounds was refined and draft guidance released as a preprint on OSF and presented as a poster at the MLA conference in May 2019. The group has now revised the guideline following the feedback gathered from the public consultation. The guideline was submitted for publication on 27 February 2020 and was published in January 2021. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search) |
| Organisation | University of Minnesota |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Shona Kirtley is a member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search). The group is leading the development of this much-needed reporting guidance, which is nearing completion. The background research, Delphi rounds, face-to-face meetings, public comment and guideline writing have all been completed and the manuscript has been submitted for publication. All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Impact | Three rounds of Delphi exercise were completed and one face-to-face meeting was held. The list of items identified during the Delphi rounds was refined and draft guidance released as a preprint on OSF and presented as a poster at the MLA conference in May 2019. The group has now revised the guideline following the feedback gathered from the public consultation. The guideline was submitted for publication on 27 February 2020 and was published in January 2021. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search) |
| Organisation | University of Ottawa |
| Department | Ottawa Health Research Institute |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Shona Kirtley is a member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search). The group is leading the development of this much-needed reporting guidance, which is nearing completion. The background research, Delphi rounds, face-to-face meetings, public comment and guideline writing have all been completed and the manuscript has been submitted for publication. All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Impact | Three rounds of Delphi exercise were completed and one face-to-face meeting was held. The list of items identified during the Delphi rounds was refined and draft guidance released as a preprint on OSF and presented as a poster at the MLA conference in May 2019. The group has now revised the guideline following the feedback gathered from the public consultation. The guideline was submitted for publication on 27 February 2020 and was published in January 2021. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search) |
| Organisation | University of Toronto |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Shona Kirtley is a member of guideline development group to develop an extension to the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews (PRISMA-Search). The group is leading the development of this much-needed reporting guidance, which is nearing completion. The background research, Delphi rounds, face-to-face meetings, public comment and guideline writing have all been completed and the manuscript has been submitted for publication. All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | All collaborators play an equal role in this guideline development group. |
| Impact | Three rounds of Delphi exercise were completed and one face-to-face meeting was held. The list of items identified during the Delphi rounds was refined and draft guidance released as a preprint on OSF and presented as a poster at the MLA conference in May 2019. The group has now revised the guideline following the feedback gathered from the public consultation. The guideline was submitted for publication on 27 February 2020 and was published in January 2021. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Oxford University Clinical Graduate School (OUCAGS), University of Oxford |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The EQUATOR team developed a 4-module course, "Introduction to medical research:essential skills" at the request of the Oxford University Clinical Graduate School (OUCAGS) to address the needs of their young doctors in training. The EQUATOR team now delivers this training twice a year and contributes organisation of the academic side of the course. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The OUCAGS team contributes the organisional aspects of the course. |
| Impact | A 4-module course "Introduction to medical research:essential skills" has been developed and is run twice a year (2013 until present), reaching around 20 junior doctors with an interest in research each time. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Penelope Research Scientific Manuscript Review Software and EQUATOR Wizard |
| Organisation | Penelope Research |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The EQUATOR Network provided expertise and input into an algorithm/decision tree to develop an online tool to enable authors of research reports identify the appropriate reporting guideline for manuscripts submitted to scientific journals. We also created a database of key reporting guidelines to populate an online tool called GoodReports, which allows authors to identify the appropriate reporting guideline and delivers an online version of the checklist for the guideline identified. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Penelope Research developed the software for the GoodReports online tool. The decision tree questions have been integrated into Penelope's main product which is which is automated manuscript review software http://www.peneloperesearch.com/#home-penelope-section. The Penelope feedback report includes a link to the GoodReports tool and the appropriate checklist. |
| Impact | 1. The EQUATOR Decision Tree was created 2. The EQUATOR Wizard was developed, using the Decision Tree as a basis. It has been accessed over 5000 times since 2016 and is one of the most viewed items on the EQUATOR Network website. 3. The prototype Wizard was piloted in February 2016. http://www.equator-network.org/2016/02/17/its-a-kind-of-magic-how-to-improve-adherence-to-reporting-guidelines/ In a before-after analysis, BioMed Central embedded the decision-tree tool in the submission system for four journals in the BMC series. In total, 590 manuscripts were included in this analysis - 300 in the before cohort and 290 in the after. There was a significant increase in manuscripts where authors had identified the correct reporting guidelines for their study type - 16% in the before cohort and 25% in the after cohort. There was also a significant decrease in manuscripts where authors incorrectly stated that there were no relevant guidelines - 27% in the before cohort and 16% in the after cohort. These results suggest that providing authors with a tool to assist in identifying the correct reporting guidelines for their study improved the identification of the correct reporting guidelines. 4. The results of the pilot were presented at a conference of journal editors. 5. The Wizard has been updated and version 1.5 has been released. 6. The updated Wizard has been integrated into the GoodReports online tool and a link to the tool integrated into the Penelope Research manuscript checker. This multidisciplinary collaboration combines the software development skills of Penelope Research with EQUATOR Network's expertise in good reporting. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Title | The EQUATOR Wizard |
| Description | The EQUATOR wizard was developed in collaboration with Penelope Research. This online application uses the questions set in the EQUATOR Decision Tree to guide researchers to identify the appropriate reporting guideline for their study. The Decision Tree and Wizard were both first launched in 2016, and were updated in 2018 using user feedback and the results of a pilot study by the publisher BioMed Central. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Impact | The online prototype of the Wizard was piloted in February 2016 in a before and after analysis by BioMed Central (http://www.equator-network.org/2016/02/17/its-a-kind-of-magic-how-to-improve-adherence-to-reporting-guidelines/). BioMed Central embedded the decision-tree tool in the submission system for four of its journals. 590 manuscripts were included in this analysis - 300 in the before cohort and 290 in the after. There was a significant increase in manuscripts where authors identified the correct reporting guidelines for their study type after the tool was introduced (16% in the before cohort and 25% in the after cohort). There was also a significant decrease in manuscripts where authors incorrectly stated that there were no relevant guidelines - 27% in the before cohort and 16% in the after cohort. These results suggest that providing authors with a tool to assist in identifying the correct reporting guidelines for their study improved the identification of the correct reporting guidelines. The results of this pilot were presented at a conference of journal editors. The updated version of the Wizard (version 1.4) has also been integrated into a new web app (GoodReports), which takes users directly to an online version of the reporting checklist indicated by answers they give when using the Wizard. The Wizard has been used over 5,000 times since it was first launched in 2016. |
| URL | http://www.peneloperesearch.com/equatorwizard |
| Description | ACT now: Accuracy, Completeness, and Transparency in health research reporting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The symposium, organised by the EQUATOR Network and the German Cochrane Centre, was centred on the theme of "ACT now: Accuracy, Completeness, and Transparency in health research reporting". Held from 11-12 October 2012, in Freiburg, Germany, the symposium presentations and discussions gave participants much food for thought regarding the impact of poor reporting and how we can all help to improve health research reporting. The symposium incorporated the 4th EQUATOR Annual Lecture which was delivered by John Ioannidis, Professor of Medicine, Health Research and Policy, and Statistics, Stanford University, USA who provided a lively and fascinating insight into reporting and reproducible research: salvaging the self-correction principle of science. 170 participants at the main congress (researchers, health proffesionals, editors, funders, reviewers) 30 participants at the pre-conference EQUATOR workshop on key guidelines for health research press coverage |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2012/10/10/act-now-accuracy-completeness-and-transparency-in-health-r... |
| Description | ANNUAL LECTURE 2014: Presented by Dr Drummond Rennie |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Lively discussion Increased number of website visits |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Accuracy, completeness and transparency: three essential components of good research reporting. EMAS annual international conference, 2015, Spain |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I. Simera gave an invited talk with discussion afterwards |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Annual Lecture 2013 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Our prestigious Annual Lecture has been delivered at the international congress with more than 500 participants, very lively discussion after the talk Increased visibility of the programme and recognision of issues EQUATOR is aiming to remedy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Conference talk: Iveta Simera at WCRI 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Iveta Simera gave a talk entitled 'The EQUATOR Network: Promoting responsible reporting of health research studies' at the 2015 World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI) in Brazil. The talk was followed by lively discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2015/06/09/equator-makes-a-splash-in-rio/ |
| Description | Consumers for the terrified: Cochrane workshop and webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Two workshops at Cochrane events (Colloquium Vienna and UK Symposium Birmingham) and a webinar with the aim of encouraging involvement of patients, carers and the general public in systematic reviews. My EQUATOR-related focus is that involving patients and the public in the scrutiny of published research (through being involved in systematic reviews) will enthuse and empower them to join EQUATORs mission to get involved in the design, conduct and reporting of research for patient benefit (PPI), and reduce the waste caused by irrelevant, poorly reported and biased research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016 |
| URL | http://2015.colloquium.cochrane.org/workshops/consumers-terrified-or-identifying-good-practice-invol... |
| Description | EASE General Assembly and Conference, Split 2014 - Reporting guidelines session |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Organised session on research reporting and reporting guidelines at the international conference of the European Association of Science Editors increased number of website visits, collaboration with EASE |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | EQUATOR / REWARD Conference: Increasing value and reducing waste in biomedical research (international conference) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We organised a joint conference between the EQUATOR Network and the REduce research Waste And Reward Diligence (REWARD) group who wrote the series on Increasing Value and Reducing Waste in The Lancet in 2014. Please see the attached flyer. Registration and abstract submission is available here: http://researchwaste.net/research-wasteequator-conference/. The Conference targeted health research scientists and clinicians, journal editors and peer reviewers, publishers, regulators, research funders and other professionals involved in research education, research governance and the publication of medical research. The focus of the conference was to: • Combine EQUATOR and REWARD themes in one conference • Recap The Lancet series findings and recommendations • Review the progress made by researchers, funders, regulators, publishers, industry, and research users against the recommendations in the series • Bring out specific themes for making research better and more efficient, e.g.: collaboration between researchers, funders, conduct/reporting organisations, regulatory authorities and publishers; specific perspectives of each of these groups of key players. • Derive a consensus statement and action plan for making progress against the recommendations of the series, after presentations and a constructive moderated discussion • Seek endorsement for the consensus statement Speakers included: Prof Doug Altman, Prof Rustam Al-Shahi Salman, Sir Iain Chalmers, Dr An-Wen Chan, Prof Paul Glasziou, Dr Trish Groves, Prof John Ioannidis, Prof Frank Miedema, Dr David Moher, Prof Andrew Morris (Chief Scientist, Scotland), Dr Iveta Simera and Dr Janet Wisely (HRA). The meeting also included the Annual Equator Lecture presented by Dr Luis Gabriel Cuervo. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2015/08/16/research-waste-equator-conference-2015/ |
| Description | EQUATOR Annual Lecture 2015 presented by Dr LG Cuervo |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The prestigious EQUATOR Annual Lecture was delivered by Dr Luis Gabriel Cuervo, Senior Adviser for Research Promotion and Development at the Pan American Health Organization. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2015/10/02/annual-lecture-2015-luis-gabriel-cuervo/ |
| Description | EQUATOR LinkedIn Page |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We have established this group to promote new reporting guidelines and other relevant publications, highlight older but important and interesting papers, and to encourage discussion and exchange experiences regarding reporting guideline development and implementation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| URL | https://www.linkedin.com/groups/5032663 |
| Description | EQUATOR Network presence on departmental websites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The EQUATOR Network maintains an active 'research group' page on the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences website at the University of Oxford. This regularly updated page provides a summary of our work, recent news articles and events, and points out to the EQUATOR Network standalone website. The page maintains a link with the academic department in which the UK EQUATOR Centre is embedded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://www.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/research-groups/equator-network |
| Description | EQUATOR Network. Conference of the International Society of Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP), London, January 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk. Around 200 people attended this international conference that discussed the latest development and best practices in the medical publication and professional services supporting publication of clinical studies. The session on the EQUATOR programme, research reporting and reporting guidelines was delivered twice and was well attended. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | EQUATOR Oncology Project Quarterly Current Awareness Bulletin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | From 2016-2018, the EQUATOR Network distributed a regular EQUATOR Oncology Current Awareness Email Bulletin to an opt-in sign up list, to other relevant health professional and biomedical librarian emails lists, and through our web pages. The bulletin contained links to information and resources related to the methods and reporting of oncology research and aimed to raise awareness of current issues in the reporting and methods of oncology-related research to effect change in the way that clinicians and researchers conduct and report their research studies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/about-us/equator-oncology-project/equator-oncology-project-quarterly-... |
| Description | EQUATOR Publication School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The EQUATOR Network ran an annual week-long residential course called Publication School, with 15-20 participants from all over the world, in the summers of 2015-2017. The course aimed to build the skills and confidence to achieve success in planning, writing, publishing and disseminating research through traditional journals and other media channels. The course was lead by an experienced, enthusiastic and knowledgeable team, featuring lectures and many practical sessions including: How to write the key sections of your research article, including the methods, analysis and results, introduction, discussion, title and abstract How to make the appropriate and optimal use of Reporting Guidelines including CONSORT, STROBE and PRISMA How to target the right journal for your research, and navigate different editorial systems How to deal with peer review comments, and how to peer review the work of others constructively How to write for and communicate with a lay audience, and make the most of media opportunities The course also discussed the importance of writing and publishing protocols, and the use of reporting guidelines such as SPIRIT and PRISMA-P. Most of the course instructors were members of the UK EQUATOR Centre. A member of the Australian EQUATOR Centre, Elaine Beller, joined the instructor team in 2016 to experience the course. As a result, the Australian Centre offered a two-day version of Publication School at Bond University in December 2016. Course alumni are champions of reporting guidelines and stay in touch with EQUATOR. 2016 alumni from South Korea organised a local workshop on reporting guidelines, which EQUATOR Network's Caroline Struthers attended and presented at. Alumni who are regular users of social media often share reporting guidelines and good reporting tips with their audiences. Alumni have reported that they are teaching the good publication practice skills that they learnt at the course in their own communities. Two alumni of the 2017 course have since joined the UK EQUATOR Centre team. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016,2017 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2015/08/14/first-equator-publication-school/ |
| Description | EQUATOR Twitter feed |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The EQUATOR Network maintains an active Twitter account with regular postings of interest to our audience of researchers, journal editors, methodologists, publishers, students, and patients. The account has around 7,000 followers as of February 2023. We regularly reach out to researchers discussing research waste issues to point them in the direction of reporting guidelines and the EQUATOR Network database. We also publicise new reporting guidelines and related research. Members of the research community regularly get in touch to let us know about new reporting guidelines and to ask questions about how to use reporting guidelines and write clear and complete health research papers. We used the reach of our Twitter feed in a 2017 call for comments run for the Health Research Authority, during which we received over 600 usable comments on how the research ethics process could be used to increase researchers' awareness of reporting guidelines and other tools for transparent research dissemination. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/EquatorNetwork |
| Description | EQUATOR email newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The EQUATOR Network distributes a regular Email Bulletin to an opt-in email list, other relevant health professional and biomedical librarian emails lists, and through our website. This newsletter was relaunched in 2020 and is now produced quarterly. As of Febrauary 2023, the newsletter had 3125 subscribers. The newsletter contains information and links about EQUATOR Network activities/events/courses, newly published reporting guidelines and other interesting and relevant resources and information related to health research reporting. The newsletter aims to raise awareness of the Network and our work, to promote courses and educational activities related to health research reporting, to highlight and raise awareness of new reporting guidelines and encourage clinicians and researchers to address current reporting issues with the aim of improving the reporting of biomedical research publications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/category/news/newsletter-only/ |
| Description | Editors and Peer Referees Training Day Athens 4 May 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop session for Journal Editors and Peer reviewers about how EQUATOR resources can help them improve the quality of their work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://athens2015.cochrane.org/programme/parallel-courses-and-symposium |
| Description | Global evidence-based projects in health and welfare: Opportunities for engagement |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Evidence Aid collaborated with Oxford's Centre for Evidence Based Intervention to host the Global Evidence-Based Projects in Health and Welfare seminar, focused on sharing opportunities for engagement with Oxford students, faculty, and community members. The seminar featured presenters from over ten organizations aimed at producing evidence-based research, policy evaluation, and global initiatives implementing evidence-based change. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.evidenceaid.org/global-evidence-based-projects-in-health-and-welfare/ |
| Description | Maintenance, updating and ongoing development of EQUATOR website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As of March 2022, our main website has around 74,000 users every month (up from 61,000 users a month in 2020). Top 10 visits from the US, UK, Brazil, China, Australia, Canada, Spain, Netherlands, India and Germany. Increasing numbers of organisations, journals, publishers, librarians and researchers around the world are aware of EQUATOR and our resources and link to our website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/ |
| Description | One-day workshop on reporting guidelines for academics in Havana, Cuba |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Jennifer de Beyer presented a one-day workshop on using reporting guidelines to a group of Cuban academics, clinical trialists, and other biomedical researchers. Attendees were enthusiastic about using reporting guidelines in their future work, and many expressed a desire to take these tools back to their colleagues and spread the word. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Open-access online course on using reporting guidelines with PAHO |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In collaboration with PAHO, we developed a four-module online course for health researchers and students in the Americas on using reporting guidelines. PAHO has made this course freely available in their Virtual Campus. As of March 2019, 894 participants from 74 countries had joined the course and 183 had completed the course. Feedback has been generally positive, finding the topics covered and resources offered useful. Spanish and Portuguese translations of the course are in progress and should be launched in 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| URL | https://mooc.campusvirtualsp.org/enrol/index.php?id=66 |
| Description | Presentation and Q&A for ISMPP webinar 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Struthers presented a 15 minute presentation and Q&A during a webinar on 30 May 2018 for the International Society of Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP), for their ISMPP University. The session covered how and why EQUATOR started and built up momentum and traction with various communities involved in publications. The session aimed to promote the idea that professional medical writers are crucial to the effort to improve publications and to inspire them withEQUATOR's story |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.ismpp.org/ismppu |
| Description | Protocol Development School 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Struthers collaborated in the development and delivery of a two-day course called Protocol Publication School for nurses, midwives, allied and other health professionals with colleagues at Oxford Brookes University's Oxford Institute of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research (OxINMAHR). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Reporting guidelines: Can their use make the work of systematic reviewers and guideline developers better? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Health professionals |
| Results and Impact | We conducted a workshop for 40 members of the World Health Organization staff and a seminar attended by a similar number of WHO staff Raised awareness of existing reporting guidelines and their importance for systematic reviewers and clinical guideline developers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2013/10/31/reporting-guidelines-can-their-use-make-the-work-of-system... |
| Description | Reporting guidelines: a tool to increase the quality and usability of health research published in your journal. Workshop, African Journal Partnership Project, Malawi 2015. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I. Simera delivered a workshop for editors of leading African medical journals |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Reporting guidelines: a tool to increase the quality of health research published in your journal. ESPGHAN international meeting, Amsterdam, 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I. Simera delivered a workshop for the editorial board of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Research papers that make a difference: Discussing research waste, reproducibility and impact. Global Health Network seminar, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I. Simera gave a seminar talk on the importance of responsible reporting of health research studies delivered for researchers at the University of Oxford, Dept of Tropical Medicine |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Research papers that make a difference: how to increase research value, reputation, and impact. 4th University Internationalization Seminar, PAHO/Organisation of American States/ COIMBRA Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Iveta Simera presented at the 4th University Internationalization Seminar organised by the PAHO, Organisation of American States and COIMBRA Group for high representatives of Brazilian Universities. The presentation resulted in subsequent wider promotion of the EQUATOR programme in Brazil. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Research papers that make a difference: how to increase research value, reputation, and impact. Invited talk at the Global Health Network seminar. University of Oxford, November 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk by Iveta Simera. Around 30 people attended the seminar. The talk generated lively discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | SCIENTIFIC MEETING: Improving reporting to decrease the waste of research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Increased interest in improving the quality of research reporting increase in website visits |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Scientific meeting. Oral presentation. PRISMA-S: Developing a New Reporting Guideline Extension for Literature Searches |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Oral presentation at the 26th Cochrane Colloquium, 22-26 October 2019 (presented by a colleague). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Scientific meeting. Poster presentation. PRISMA-S: Developing a New Reporting Guideline Extension for Literature Searches |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Poster presentation at the US Medical Library Association conference, 3-8 May 2019 (presented by a colleague). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Speaker at EQUATOR workshop for researchers in Seoul |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Struthers was invited to give a 20 minute introduction to EQUATOR in Seoul by two South Korean clinician/researchers who were attendees of the EQUATOR Publication School in July 2016. This talk cooincided with her attendance at the Cochrane Colloquium as a member of Cochrane Consumer Executive. The presentation introduced a three hour workshop for students of Korean medicine. It was delivered by a group of South Korean researchers, including the developers of the STRICTA reporting guidelines for reporting accupuncture trials and the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field, and translators of other EQUATOR reporting guidelines into Korean. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Speaker during systematic review workshop supported by Cochrane |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Struthers was invited to talk about EQUATOR and the PRISMA reporting guideline for reporting systematic reviews during a systematic review workshop supported by Cochrane. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk at scientific meeting: REWARD/EQUATOR Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Doug Altman presented two lectures at the 2015 joint REWARD/EQUATOR conference in Edinburgh: 'Deficiencies of the medical research literature' and 'EQUATOR Network: Promoting research reports that are fit for purpose' (presented with Iveta Simera). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Talk for MedComms Coummity of professional medical writers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a talk Beyond CONSORT: other guidelines for other types of manuscripts - to an audience of around 70 medical writers employed mainly by the pharmaceutical industry. It raised awareness of EQUATOR and highlighted the lesser known reporting guidelines which could help medical writers improve the quality of their work, and reflect well on the research organisations that use their services, as well as improving the quality of research literature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://medcommsnetworking.com/event70.html |
| Description | Talk: Iveta Simera at the EQUATOR Reporting Guideline Development Meeting in Oxford 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | At the first EQUATOR Reporting Guideline Development Meeting, Iveta Simera gave a talk summarising the work of the EQUATOR Network. She also co-ordinated a session on the development of additional reporting guideline development guidance |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2014/11/25/the-first-equator-reporting-guideline-development-meeting-... |
| Description | Teaching for the Oxford University Clinical Graduate School (OUCAGS): Introduction to medical research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The EQUATOR Network runs an introductory-level course for health professionals connected to the Oxford University Clinical Graduate School (OUCAGS). The course provides an overview of key steps and common methods in medical research and its publication. It is divided into four modules, delivered as four half-day sessions at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. The four modules are 1. Research planning: before you start your research project 2. Research design and protocol 3. Statistical thinking 4. Research publication and dissemination The course runs on Saturdays to take account of the limited availability of clinicians on the Academic Clinical Training. The course ran annually in autumn (Sept-Nov) in 2014 and 2015. From 2016 to 2021 it ran twice a year, in spring (Feb-March/April) and autumn (Sept-Nov). In 2022, it ran annually in autumn (Sept-Nov). The course is consistently rated highly by the participants. From mid-2020, the course was run online, using broadly the same format as in-person. Several participants have contacted Shona Kirtley (team information specialist) after the course, and she has provided them with further advice and guidance when planning their literature searches. As a result, her contribution has been acknowledged in publications: 1. Haeusler et al. The arrhythmogenic cardiotoxicity of the quinoline and structurally related antimalarial drugs: a systematic review. BMC Medicine 2018; 16: 200. 2. Chan et al. Factors affecting the electrocardiographic QT interval in malaria: A systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data. PLoS Medicine 2020; 17(3):e1003040. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.oucags.ox.ac.uk/medical-research-essential-skills |
| Description | Towards excellence in bioresource research: Setting CoBRA guideline in the context of other research guidance, EASE / BRIEF international meeting, France |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I. Simera gave an invited talk with discussion afterwards at an international working meeting |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | US Medical Library Association Conference, 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Shona Kirtley presented on the topic of 'Librarians! Let's Leverage Our Role to Raise the Quality of Biomedical Research' at a professional conference for medical librarians. The presentation improved awareness of the role of librarians in helping to improve the reporting of biomedical research, reduce research waste and improve reproducibility issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Updating and implementation of CONSORT extension for reporting non-pharmacological treatment interventions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Meeting of the CONSORT Group for reporting randomized trials of non-pharmacological treatment interventions (NPT). The aim of the meeting was to update the guidance and to develop strategies to improve implementation of the guideline. A revised CONSORT NPT checklist is in preparation and will be published in 2015. An implementation strategy is being developed with the Annals of Surgery. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.consort-statement.org/extensions?ContentWidgetId=558 |
| Description | Webinars |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Lively discussion after the talks Conducted several webinars, which were also recorded and made available online on our website and our youtube channel - all contributed to increased visibility of the programme, promotion of good reporting practice and our online resources |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Workshop Reporting guidelines: a tool to increase the quality of health research published in your journal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A well received workshop for journal editors aimed at improving the quality of research reporting of manuscripts published by participating medical journals Very positive feedback, request for information |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Workshop and Exhibition at the Peer Review Congress, Chicago 2013 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | One of the important goals of our programme is promotion of good research reporting practice and raising awareness of exising reporting guidelines; we ran a workshop for 40 journal editors (who can substantially influence quality of research reports); we also organised an exhibition stand during the congress to engage with our key stakeholders (researchers, peer reviewers, editors, and publishers) Increased number of subscribers to our regular newsletter, increased traffic on our website |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2013/09/17/equator-at-the-peer-review-congress-2013/ |
| Description | Workshop for journal editors |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An EU-based journal contracted the UK EQUATOR Centre to deliver a workshop for its editors on using reporting guidelines and developing a reporting guideline policy for the journal. An introductory lecture was also given to a wider group of researchers with whom the journal are associated. The interactive workshop was delivered by trainer Jennifer de Beyer. Editors had developed a concrete plan for implementing reporting guidelines in their journal and helping their authors to use them by the end of the session. This activity arose from Caroline Struthers' invited talk at the EASE 2018 conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Workshop: EQUATOR Reporting Guideline Development Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | More than 20 contributors with a wealth of expertise, experience, and passionate commitment to the cause gathered in Oxford for the first EQUATOR Reporting Guideline Development Working Meeting. We discussed how the EQUATOR Network can move forward and take practical steps to engage with researchers, journal editors, peer reviewers, ethics committees, and consumers to help people develop high-quality Reporting Guidelines and apply them effectively to increase the quality, transparency, and usefulness of the health research literature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2014/11/25/the-first-equator-reporting-guideline-development-meeting-... |
| Description | Workshop: EQUATOR-organised session at WCRI 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I. Simera and C. Struthers organised the EQUATOR Network's session at the World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI) in Brazil in 2015. The session was entitled 'Making the research publication process more efficient and responsible: Practical ways to improve the reliability and usability of published (health) research'. It was well attended and generated lively discussion. Session programme details: Making the research publication process more efficient and responsible: practical ways to improve the reliability and usability of published (health) research Session moderators: Iveta Simera, EQUATOR Network, Centre for Statistics in Medicine, NDORMS, University of Oxford, UK Trish Groves, BMJ, EQUATOR Network Steering Group member Target audience: Editors, researchers (in roles of research authors and peer reviewers), university professionals, policy makers, publishers Background: Complete, accurate and transparent reporting is an integral part of responsible research conduct. Unfortunately substantial evidence has demonstrated serious deficiencies in the reporting of research studies. Health research literature has become the most scrutinised area due to the rapid expansion in the production of systematic reviews and the direct impact the results of such reviews can have on patients' care. However, other fields such as the veterinary sciences are quickly catching up, indicating that reporting deficiencies will become a problem across the sciences. Despite considerable resources invested in health research, it is clear that the usability and usefulness of research results are often severely limited because of poor reporting in research publications. Enormous financial and human resources are wasted as a result. Although ultimate responsibility for the design, conduct and accurate publication of studies lies with the researchers, a coordinated effort of all parties involved in (health) research and its publication is urgently needed to remedy the current unsustainable situation. Session format: Four short talks (15 minutes) followed by a longer constructive discussion aiming to arrive at some specific and practical suggestions to improve research publication process and outcomes, total session length 1 ½ - 2 hours. Session content will mainly focus on examples from biomedical research but we believe that it will be in principle applicable to other related scientific fields. Session programme: Can we trust the medical research literature: poor reporting and its consequences Dr Iveta Simera, Deputy Director, UK EQUATOR Centre, NDORMS, University of Oxford, UK What can BMC do to improve published research? Daniel Shanahan, Associate Publisher, BioMed Central, London, UK What can a "traditional" journal do to improve published research? Dr Trish Groves, Head of Research, BMJ & Editor-in-chief, BMJ Open, London, UK Promoting good reporting practice for reliable and usable research papers: EQUATOR Network, reporting guidelines and other initiatives Caroline Struthers, EQUATOR Education and Training Manager, UK EQUATOR Centre, NDORMS, University of Oxford, UK Discussion Moderated by Dr Trish Groves |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org/2015/06/09/equator-makes-a-splash-in-rio/ |
| Description | Workshop: Reporting guidelines: Can their use make the work of systematic reviewers and guideline developers better? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Organised a workshop for the WHO Clinical Guidelines Group in Geneva. The workshop was followed by a seminar - two talks delivered by the EQUATOR team members. Lively workshop and seminar, many questions, further contacts and requests for advice and collaboration on development of reporting guidelines inportant to the WHO work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.equator-network.org |