To adequately translate research into practice, research results should be reported in a way that is useful to practicing clinicians and policymakers. Based on evidence from systematic reviews, the implementation of reporting guidelines, such as CONSORT for randomized controlled trials, may improve the quality of research reporting. We assessed the endorsement of reporting guidelines in rheumatology journals.
We analyzed guidelines for authors of all (n = 28) journals indexed in the "Rheumatology" Subject Category of the Journal Citation Reports published in 2012. Journal websites were reviewed for information relevant to reporting guidelines.
Out of 28 indexed journals, only about a third (n = 10) endorsed 1 or more reporting guidelines, most commonly CONSORT. General editorial policies, such as those from the International Committee of Medical Journal editors (ICMJE), were endorsed by 19 journals (all 10 journals with and 9 out of 18 without reporting guidelines). Two rheumatology journals introduced specific reporting guidelines about economic studies and genetic association studies.
The endorsement of reporting guidelines is low in rheumatology journals. To continue to serve their research community, rheumatology journals should provide the platform for the discussion on most relevant reporting guidelines and adopt them as a group, especially those specific for rheumatology research. Coordinated action of journals and other stakeholders in rheumatology research in the promotion of accurate and transparent reporting of health research studies would be an important part of knowledge translation into practice and well-being of rheumatology patients.