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.” Its mission is to “achieve accurate, complete, and transparent reporting of all health research studies to support research reproducibility and usefulness.”

Currently containing 347 reporting guidelines, the “Library for health research reporting provides an up-to-date collection of guidelines and policy documents related to health research reporting. These are aimed mainly at authors of research articles, journal editors, peer reviewers and reporting guideline developers.”

Many people have heard of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and CONSORT which was developed to promote more transparent reporting of randomized controlled trials, but there are many more reporting guidelines in existence that may not be as well known. For example, the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE 2.0) is one that anyone considering publishing and disseminating the results of a quality improvement project should know about. Here’s why: It is becoming more and more common for journal publishers to strongly encourage adherence to these reporting guidelines. One such journal,The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, includes this information in its Guide For Authors:

“The Journal strongly suggests that authors use standard formats as described at http://www.equator-network.org. For example, use CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, SRQR or COREQ for qualitative studies, CHEERS for economic evaluations, and SQUIRE for quality improvement studies. Authors are strongly encouraged to use the checklists included in these guidelines, and those checklists may be requested during manuscript review to ensure completeness.”

The EQUATOR group has also been working on “compiling specialist collections of resources about reporting for individual specialties”. This oncology specialist collection, called the EQUATOR Oncology Project, “is the first such collection and it is at an early stage of development”. Be sure to check out their “Useful resources and references for oncology researchers”, that include recent “References specifically about reporting issues in oncology”, as well as links to 39 Oncology-related reporting guidelines and their Quarterly Current Awareness Bulletin for oncology clinicians and researchers.

For more information on this and other resources, contact us at the MSK Library!

As the evidence based information landscape continues to expand at an unprecedented rate, it is not surprising that there is now even a place for systematic reviews of systematic reviews in the literature to support more streamlined clinical decision-making.  To better navigate this expanding landscape, some new “meta” search tools have been developed, including one called Epistemonikos.

Epistemonikos offers a Google-like search box, as well as an advanced search option, and can be search using terms from multiple languages. Epistemonikos is an openly-available database that “gathers information from multiple sources of systematic reviews, broad syntheses of reviews and structured summaries”. Included among its sources are: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Pubmed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, LILACS, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Technology Assessment Database, Campbell Library, JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, EPPI-Centre Evidence Library, and SUPPORT Summaries. Continue reading →

In honor of National Women’s Health Week, this post highlights some free online resources for Women’s Health that may be of interest to researchers, clinicians and patients alike.

AHRQ Resources for Women’s Health
“AHRQ offers information to help enhance our understanding of women’s unique health needs and empower women to be more engaged in health care decisions.” See their Resources for Women’s Health for “research updates and information to help women manage diseases and conditions”.

MEDLINEPlus Women’s Health
MedlinePlus is the NIH’s database resource intended for “patients and their families and friends”. They have a Health Topic dedicated to Women’s Health since “some of the health issues that affect both men and women can affect women differently.”

ACS Women’s Health
The American Cancer Society website has a Women’s Health section where visitors can learn about many of the cancers that commonly affect women and what women can do to help protect themselves and catch cancer early. Continue reading →