Social Accountability Reporting for Research (SAR4Research): checklist to strengthen reporting on studies on social accountability in the literature.

Background: An increasing number of evaluations of social accountability (SA) interventions have been published in the past decade, however, reporting gaps make it difficult to summarize findings. We developed the Social Accountability Reporting for Research (SAR4Research) checklist to support researchers to improve the documentation of SA processes, context, study designs, and outcomes in the peer reviewed literature and to enhance application of findings.

Methods: We used a multi-step process, starting with an umbrella review of reviews on SA to identify reporting gaps.

Can transparency and accountability programs improve health? Experimental evidence from Indonesia and Tanzania.

We assess the impact of a transparency and accountability program designed to improve maternal and newborn health (MNH) outcomes in Indonesia and Tanzania. Co-designed with local partner organizations to be community-led and non-prescriptive, the program sought to encourage community participation to address local barriers in access to high quality care for pregnant women and infants. We evaluate the impact of this program through randomized controlled trials (RCTs), involving 100 treatment and 100 control communities in each country.