In a new editorial in BMC Medicine, David Moher asks whether reporting guidelines can help journals do better.
He suggests that if journals embraced auditing of the quality of articles they publish, through the use of established reporting guidelines, it would give them and their readers essential feedback through which several improvements could be made.
"Clear, accurate, and transparent reporting of biomedical research remains a considerable problem. Authors, editors, and peer reviewers have failed readers in providing a product that is robust, usable, and reproducible. There are now innovative tools available to help improve this situation, yet we need more active implementation of them by authors, editors, and peer reviewers. University promotion and tenure committees should consider whether offering career advancement based on poorly reported publications is of value to society and ethically sustainable."
Moher D. Reporting guidelines: doing better for readers.
BMC Medicine, 2018. 16:233
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-018-1226-0
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