The International EQUATOR Network: enhancing the quality and transparency of health care research

As the number of scientific publications in the biomedical field increases exponentially and as it has become apparent that appropriate synthesis of individual study results is critical in clinical decision making, there is a need for improved reporting of the published studies. One of the first and most comprehensive attempts towards improved reporting was the publication, in 1996, of the core CONSORT guidelines (Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials) by the CONSORT group. The first CONSORT document was also followed by the CONSORT extension guidelines covering trials with specific designs such as cluster randomized and non-inferiority trialsconsort). The third and latest version of the core CONSORT document was published in the spring of 2010. A further initiative towards better reporting and a development from the CONSORT group is the eQUATOR network (Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research) (http://www.equator-network. org/). As the eQUATOR group states: " The eQUATOR Network is an 'umbrella' organization that brings together researchers, medical journal editors, peer reviewers, developers of reporting guidelines, research funding bodies and other collaborators with mutual interest in improving the quality of research publications and of research itself. " Currently the EQUATOR network site has a plethora of published guidelines and other relevant publications to assist in research reporting all " interested " in a one stop shop package. A reasonable question that would come to mind is the following: how is the EQUATOR network initiative for improved reporting in healthcare can help dental research and dentistry in general? The answer to this question is that dentistry is bound to benefit at several levels. Accurate and transparent reporting facilitates correct indexing, easier retrieval, assessment and utilization of the published reports by the investigators seeking to evaluate the available evidence on the topic of interest. Although the guidelines in the eQUATOR pertain mainly to reporting rather than design and quality assessment of health related research, there are potential positive implications for an improved study design. Prospective researchers planning with the end in mind may use the guidelines at the design stage to make sure that all important aspects of the research project are being considered. Therefore, a group of investigators about to design a randomized clinical trial or an observational study may refer to the CONSORT or the STROBe guidelines respectively and use them as checklists to make sure important design issues are considered and accounted for at the initial stages of the …