Trial registration and adherence to reporting guidelines in cardiovascular journals.

Objective: This study investigated the policies of cardiac and cardiovascular system journals concerning clinical trial registration and guideline adoption to understand how frequently journals use these mechanisms to improve transparency, trial reporting and overall study quality.

Methods: We selected the top 20 (by impact factor) journals cited in the subcategory 'Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems' of the Expanded Science Citation Index of the 2014 Journal Citation Reports to extract journal policies concerning the 17 guidelines we identified. In addition, trial and systematic review registration adherence statements were extracted.