The Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of health research Network (EQUATOR Network[1]) is an international initiative aimed at promoting transparent and accurate reporting of health research studies to enhance the value and reliability of
medical research literature.[2] The EQUATOR Network is hosted by the
University of Oxford, and was established with the goals of raising awareness of the importance of good reporting of research, assisting in the development, dissemination and implementation of reporting guidelines for different types of study designs, monitoring the status of the quality of reporting of research studies in the health sciences literature, and conducting research relating to issues that impact the quality of reporting of health research studies.[3] The Network acts as an "umbrella" organisation, bringing together developers of reporting guidelines, medical journal editors and peer reviewers, research funding bodies, and other key stakeholders with a mutual interest in improving the quality of research publications and research itself. The EQUATOR Network comprises five centres at the
University of Oxford (UK, Professor Gary Collins),
Bond University (Australia, Professor
Paul Glasziou and Professor Tammy Hoffman),
Paris Descartes University (France, Professor Philippe Ravaud),
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Canada, Professor
David Moher), and
Hong Kong Baptiste University (China, Professor Zhaoxiang Bian).
History
The EQUATOR Network grew out as part of spin-off projects generated after the work initiated by the
Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials group and other guideline development groups to alleviate the problems arising from inadequate reporting of
randomized controlled trials and other types of health research studies. The EQUATOR project began in March 2006 as part of a one-year project funded by the UK National Knowledge Science, from the
National Health Service (NHS).[4] The group founded by
Douglas Altman whilst at the
University of Oxford planned a program that would develop online resources and training to encourage the use of reporting guidelines in scientific publishing in the health area[5][6] to improve the quality of reporting of health research studies, identifying key stakeholders engaged in these activities and networking with them.
The first international working meeting of the EQUATOR Network took place in
Oxford in 2006 and was attended by 27 participants from 10 countries.[7] Participants at this meeting were reporting guidelines developers, journal editors, peer reviewers, medical writers and research funders. The meeting served as a venue to exchange experiences among participants in developing, using and implementing reporting guidelines and prioritize the main activities that were necessary for the successful start of the EQUATOR Network's efforts.
The EQUATOR Network was formally launched on 26 June 2008 at the
Royal Society of Medicine in
London, UK. The event also hosted the 1st EQUATOR Annual Lecture presented by Sir
Iain Chalmers. In that meeting, the results of a study by Iveta Simera,
Douglas Altman,
David Moher, Kenneth Schulz and John Hoey, were presented, and published two years later.[8] The study identified the need for a coordinated work between publishers, researchers and funders to improve the quality of the research output.
Since then, the EQUATOR Network has held annual lectures that have been held in
Vancouver (
Canada) in 2009,
Oxford (UK) in 2010,
Bristol (UK) in 2011, and
Freiburg (Germany) in 2012.
The EQUATOR Network Library
The EQUATOR Network developed and maintains a comprehensive library that provides a collection of publications related to reporting guidelines on scientific writing, empirical evidence supporting or refuting the inclusion of crucial items in reporting guidelines, evaluations of the quality of reporting, publication ethics and educational materials and tools for editors, peer reviewers and researchers. Comprehensive lists of reporting guidelines for the following study types are available in the EQUATOR Network library:
^Simera, I; Altman, DG (October 2009). "Writing a research article that is "fit for purpose": EQUATOR Network and reporting guidelines". Evidence-Based Medicine. 14 (5): 132–4.
doi:
10.1136/ebm.14.5.132.
PMID19794009.
S2CID220165173.