Reporting guidelines specify what must be described so a reader can appraise the work. They do not dictate how to conduct a study, and completing one does not rescue a weak design.
CONSORT — randomised controlled trials
Twenty-five items plus a participant flow diagram. Requires the randomisation method, allocation concealment, blinding, and every participant accounted for from enrolment to analysis.
Trial registration before the first participant is enrolled is expected. Retrospective registration is usually disclosed and often questioned.
STROBE — observational studies
Twenty-two items covering cohort, case-control and cross-sectional designs. Emphasis falls on how participants were selected, how variables were defined and measured, and how confounding was addressed.
The item most often skipped is the explanation of how sample size was arrived at.
PRISMA — systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Twenty-seven items plus a flow diagram. Requires the full search strategy, screening process, risk-of-bias assessment and certainty of evidence. See our complete PRISMA 2020 guide.
CARE — case reports
Thirteen items including a timeline of the case. Requires patient perspective where obtainable and informed consent for publication, which journals check.
STARD — diagnostic accuracy studies
Thirty items focused on how the index test and reference standard were applied, whether assessors were blinded, and how indeterminate results were handled.
Others you may need
- SPIRIT — clinical trial protocols
- COREQ — qualitative research interviews and focus groups
- ARRIVE — animal research
- TRIPOD — prediction model development and validation
- SQUIRE — quality improvement studies
- CHEERS — health economic evaluations
The EQUATOR Network maintains the full catalogue and is the place to check when your design is unusual.
Practical use
Complete the checklist while writing, recording the page number for each item, and submit it as a supplementary file. Filling one in afterwards reliably exposes items you never reported — which is precisely the point, but far cheaper to discover before submission.