Subject Guides: Systematic Reviews for Health: Standards for Reporting

Standards for Reporting / Reporting Guidelines

The goal of reporting guidelines is to enhance transparency and improve the quality of health research reporting.

EQUATOR Network

The EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network is an international initiative that seeks to improve the reliability and value of published health research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting and wider use of robust reporting guidelines.

It contains a comprehensive searchable database of reporting guidelines for the main study types, including guideline extensions.

PRISMA

PRISMA stands for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. It is an evidence-based minimum set of items in reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

PRISMA 2020 Statement
PRISMA 2020 Explanation and Elaboration Explanation why reporting of each item is recommended, detail of the reporting recommendations, and presentation of examples from published reviews
PRISMA 2020 Checklist Checklist, Expanded Checklist and Checklist generator
PRISMA 2020 Flow Diagram Four flow diagram templates and flow diagram generator
PRISMA for Searching (PRISMA-Search) Includes 16 reporting items, each of which is detailed with rational and exemplar reporting

PRISMA Extensions

PRISMA for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR)

The PRISMA-ScR checklist and explanation was published in 2018. It aims to improve the methodological and reporting quality of the increasingly popular scoping reviews.

Tricco, AC et al. 2018, 'PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation', Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 169, no. 7, pp. 467-473.

PRISMA for systematic review protocols (PRISMA-P)

PRISMA-P was published in 2015 aiming to facilitate the development and reporting of systematic review protocols.

Statement paper:

Moher, D, Shamseer, L, Clarke, M, Ghersi, D, Liberati, A, Petticrew, M, Shekelle, P & Stewart, LA 2015, 'Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement', Systematic reviews, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 1.

Several extensions of the PRISMA Statement have been developed to facilitate the reporting of different types or aspects of systematic reviews.

MOOSE

MOOSE stands for Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology. It is a proposed checklist that contains specifications for reporting of meta-analyses of observational studies in epidemiology, including background, search strategy, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. The use of the checklist should improve the usefulness of meta-analyses for authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and decision makers.

Stroup, DF, Berlin, JA, Morton, SC, Olkin, I, Williamson, GD, Rennie, D, Moher, D, Becker, BJ, Sipe, TA & Thacker, SB 2000, 'Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology: A proposal for reporting. Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (MOOSE) group', JAMA, vol. 283, no. 15, pp. 2008-2012.

STROBE checklists for observational studies

Observational research comprises several study designs and many topic areas. The STROBE statement is a checklist of items that should be included in articles reporting observational research. It considers cohort, case-control, cross-sectional studies as well as conference abstracts.

SWiM guideline

The Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guideline provides nine items to improve the transparent reporting of synthesis of intervention effects when the synthesis does not use meta-analysis of standardised effect sizes.

SWiM Cochrane training module

University of Tasmania, Australia

Systematic Reviews for Health: Standards for Reporting