Relation of completeness of reporting of health research to journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines: systematic review.

Objective: To assess whether the completeness of reporting of health research is related to journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines.

Design: Systematic review.

Data Sources: Reporting guidelines from a published systematic review and the EQUATOR Network (October 2011).

Seasonal distribution and historic trends in abundance of white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, in the western North Atlantic Ocean.

Despite recent advances in field research on white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in several regions around the world, opportunistic capture and sighting records remain the primary source of information on this species in the northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA). Previous studies using limited datasets have suggested a precipitous decline in the abundance of white sharks from this region, but considerable uncertainty in these studies warrants additional investigation. This study builds upon previously published data combined with recent unpublished records and presents a synthesis of 649 confirmed white shark records from the NWA compiled over a 210-year period (1800-2010), resulting in the largest white shark dataset yet compiled from this region.

Does journal endorsement of reporting guidelines influence the completeness of reporting of health research? A systematic review protocol.

Background: Reporting of health research is often inadequate and incomplete. Complete and transparent reporting is imperative to enable readers to assess the validity of research findings for use in healthcare and policy decision-making. To this end, many guidelines, aimed at improving the quality of health research reports, have been developed for reporting a variety of research types.

Investigator experiences with financial conflicts of interest in clinical trials.

Background: Financial conflicts of interest (fCOI) can introduce actions that bias clinical trial results and reduce their objectivity. We obtained information from investigators about adherence to practices that minimize the introduction of such bias in their clinical trials experience.

Methods: Email survey of clinical trial investigators from Canadian sites to learn about adherence to practices that help maintain research independence across all stages of trial preparation, conduct, and dissemination.

Describing reporting guidelines for health research: a systematic review.

Objective: To describe the process of development, content, and methods of implementation of reporting guidelines for health research.

Study Design And Setting: A systematic review of publications describing health research reporting guidelines developed using consensus.

Results: Eighty-one reporting guidelines for health research were included in the review.

Transparent and accurate reporting increases reliability, utility, and impact of your research: reporting guidelines and the EQUATOR Network.

Although current electronic methods of scientific publishing offer increased opportunities for publishing all research studies and describing them in sufficient detail, health research literature still suffers from many shortcomings. These shortcomings seriously undermine the value and utility of the literature and waste scarce resources invested in the research. In recent years there have been several positive steps aimed at improving this situation, such as a strengthening of journals' policies on research publication and the wide requirement to register clinical trials.

Financial Conflicts of Interest Checklist 2010 for clinical research studies.

A conflict of interest is defined as "a set of conditions in which professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as a patient's welfare or the validity of research) tends to be unduly influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain)" [Thompson DF. Understanding financial conflicts of interest. N Engl J Med 1993;329(8):573-576].

The EQUATOR Network and reporting guidelines: Helping to achieve high standards in reporting health research studies.

Poorly reported research seriously undermines the usability of reported findings and misleads clinicians, researchers, policy makers and, ultimately, patients. Guidelines for reporting health research are available but they are not widely used. The EQUATOR Network is an international initiative that aims to systematically tackle the problems of poor reporting.

Development of an immunoglobulin M capture-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of acute infections with Bartonella henselae.

We describe the development of an immunoglobulin M-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of an early antibody response to Bartonella henselae, the causative agent of cat scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, and endocarditis. This assay discriminates between B. henselae-positive and -negative patient samples with sensitivity and specificity values of 100% and 97.

Guidelines for reporting health research: the EQUATOR network's survey of guideline authors.

Iveta Simera and colleagues survey the authors of 37 guidelines on reporting health research.

Helping editors, peer reviewers and authors improve the clarity, completeness and transparency of reporting health research.

Inadequate reporting is problematic for several reasons. If authors do not provide sufficient details concerning the conduct of their study, readers are left with an incomplete picture of what was done. As such, they are not able to judge the merits of the results and interpret them.

Editorial independence in the electronic age: new threats, old owners?

Editorial independence is crucial for the intellectual life of a scientific journal. A journal exists only as an idea created by authors and readers, with some editorial orchestration. Editorial independence can be compromised by pressure put on editors by their owners-whether commercial publishers or professional organizations.

Discovery and analysis of Bartonella henselae antigens for use in clinical serologic assays.

The antibody response to Bartonella henselae has been studied in a number of mammals; however, the human response needs to be further studied. After natural infection, humans have antibody reactivity to a large number of B. henselae proteins.