Reference notes
Coverage
12 reporting guidelines
Sources
EQUATOR Network + official guideline websites
Last reviewed
February 2026
Prepared by the Manusights editorial team.
Reporting-checklist guide
Reporting guidelines are structured checklists that tell you what information must appear in a manuscript for your study design. They don't tell you how to do research; they tell you how to describe it completely so others can evaluate and replicate it.
Most major journals now require specific checklists at submission. Submitting without the right one can trigger immediate desk rejection or a return-to-author request. This page covers the 12 most-used guidelines in biomedicine, with a decision matrix to help you pick the right one. Core guideline publications are cited in the references section below.
Quick orientation
This guide is designed to reduce one of the easiest submission errors to avoid: attaching the wrong checklist, or using the right checklist too late. Start with the study design, match the framework, then move into the official checklist source.
Best used with
Pre-submission checklist
Use it once the correct reporting framework is chosen and the rest of the package needs a final pass.
Submission specs
Pair checklist selection with journal-specific file, abstract, and supplement requirements.
Data sharing requirements
Move there when the checklist implies a formal data-availability statement or repository plan.
In this guide
Start with the decision matrix if you are unsure which checklist applies. Move to the reference section once the study design is settled and you need the official source, extensions, or journal expectations.
Decision matrix
Map the study design to the right checklist without guessing.
Guideline reference
See the official sites, extension families, and common journal expectations.
EQUATOR
Use the central reporting-guideline library when the manuscript falls outside the core 12.
Checklist workflow
Complete the checklist in a way journals and editors will actually accept.
| If your study... | Use |
|---|---|
| Is it a randomized controlled trial? | CONSORT |
| Is it a systematic review or meta-analysis of RCTs? | PRISMA |
| Is it a meta-analysis of observational studies? | MOOSE |
| Is it a cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional study? | STROBE |
| Is it a case report or case series? | CARE |
| Does it evaluate a diagnostic test or biomarker? | STARD |
| Is it a clinical trial protocol (not results)? | SPIRIT |
| Does it develop or validate a prediction model? | TRIPOD (or TRIPOD+AI for ML models) |
| Is it animal (in vivo) research? | ARRIVE 2.0 |
| Is it a health economic evaluation? | CHEERS 2022 |
| Is it a quality improvement or patient safety study? | SQUIRE 2.0 |
| Does it use EHR, insurance claims, or registry data? | RECORD (+ STROBE) |
Some manuscripts need more than one guideline: for example, a systematic review of diagnostic accuracy studies should follow both PRISMA and PRISMA-DTA.
Search by study design, guideline acronym, extension family, or journal expectation. Export the current view or copy rows for a lab checklist, author-support SOP, or manuscript prep sheet.
Visible guidelines
12
Families represented
6
AI/prediction entries
1
Preclinical & case reports
Theme
Study type
Extensions
Official site
Typical journal requirement
Preclinical & case reports
Theme
Study type
Extensions
Official site
Typical journal requirement
Health systems & economics
Theme
Extensions
Official site
Study type
Typical journal requirement
Trials
Theme
Study type
Official site
Typical journal requirement
Extensions
Reviews
Theme
Study type
Extensions
Typical journal requirement
Official site
Reviews
Theme
Study type
Official site
Typical journal requirement
Extensions
Observational
Theme
Extensions
Official site
Study type
Typical journal requirement
Trials
Theme
Study type
Extensions
Official site
Typical journal requirement
Health systems & economics
Theme
Study type
Extensions
Official site
Typical journal requirement
Diagnostics & prediction
Theme
Study type
Official site
Typical journal requirement
Extensions
Observational
Theme
Official site
Study type
Typical journal requirement
Extensions
Diagnostics & prediction
Theme
Study type
Official site
Typical journal requirement
Extensions
| Theme | Guideline | Study type |
|---|---|---|
| Preclinical & case reports | ARRIVE | Animal (in vivo) research |
| Preclinical & case reports | CARE | Case reports and case series |
| Health systems & economics | CHEERS | Health economic evaluations (cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit) |
| Trials | CONSORT | Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) |
| Reviews | MOOSE | Meta-analyses of observational studies |
| Reviews | PRISMA | Systematic reviews and meta-analyses |
| Observational | RECORD | Studies using routinely collected health data (EHR, administrative databases, registries) |
| Trials | SPIRIT | Clinical trial protocols |
| Health systems & economics | SQUIRE | Quality improvement and patient safety studies |
| Diagnostics & prediction | STARD | Diagnostic accuracy studies |
| Observational | STROBE | Observational studies: cohort, case-control, cross-sectional |
| Diagnostics & prediction | TRIPOD | Prediction model studies (clinical + AI/ML) |
Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials
The gold standard for reporting parallel-group RCTs. The 2010 checklist has 25 items covering design, analysis, and interpretation. Required or recommended by hundreds of journals including NEJM, JAMA, Lancet, BMJ, and virtually all clinical journals.
Extensions: Extensions for cluster RCTs, crossover trials, non-inferiority trials, pragmatic trials, pilot and feasibility trials, N-of-1 trials, social and psychological interventions
Journal requirement: Mandatory at NEJM, JAMA, Lancet, BMJ, and most clinical journals
Official website + checklist download ↗Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Updated to PRISMA 2020, the checklist has 27 items. Covers literature search, screening, data extraction, risk of bias, and synthesis. Required at most journals publishing systematic reviews, including Lancet, BMJ, JAMA Network, and Cochrane.
Extensions: PRISMA-P (protocols), PRISMA-IPD (individual participant data), PRISMA-NMA (network meta-analysis), PRISMA-DTA (diagnostic test accuracy), PRISMA-Equity (equity-focused reviews), PRISMA-Abstract
Journal requirement: Mandatory for systematic reviews at most major biomedical journals
Official website + checklist download ↗Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology
A 22-item checklist applicable across three observational designs, with separate versions for cohort studies, case-control studies, and cross-sectional studies. Widely used in epidemiology, public health, and clinical medicine.
Extensions: STROBE-NutriMed (nutritional epidemiology), STROBE-ME (molecular epidemiology), STROME-ID (infectious disease molecular epidemiology)
Journal requirement: Recommended at Lancet, BMJ, JAMA, PLOS Medicine, and epidemiology-focused journals
Official website + checklist download ↗Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments
Updated to ARRIVE 2.0 in 2020. A 21-item checklist for reporting preclinical animal studies. Designed to improve reproducibility of animal research and now required or recommended by Nature, Science, Cell Press journals, and most journals publishing preclinical work.
Extensions: ARRIVE 2.0 separates 'essential' and 'recommended' items
Journal requirement: Required or recommended at Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Methods, and most preclinical journals
Official website + checklist download ↗CAse REport
A 13-item checklist for reporting case reports. Addresses the timeline, patient perspective, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, and follow-up. Required at BMJ Case Reports, required or recommended at JAMA, Lancet, and journals with case report sections.
Journal requirement: Required at BMJ Case Reports; recommended at JAMA, Lancet, and similar
Official website + checklist download ↗Standards for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies
Updated to STARD 2015, a 30-item checklist for studies evaluating the performance of a diagnostic test or biomarker. Essential for translational work in precision medicine, imaging, and laboratory diagnostics.
Extensions: STARD-AI (for AI/ML diagnostic studies): increasingly required as imaging AI papers surge
Journal requirement: Recommended at Radiology, JAMA, Lancet, Nature Medicine, and clinical diagnostic journals
Official website + checklist download ↗Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials
A 33-item checklist for reporting clinical trial protocols, not results. Required by WHO and recommended when journals publish trial protocols. Works alongside CONSORT. SPIRIT governs the protocol; CONSORT governs the results.
Journal requirement: Required by WHO trial registration; used at BMJ, Trials journal, and protocol-publishing venues
Official website + checklist download ↗Transparent Reporting of a Multivariable Prediction Model for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis
A 22-item checklist for prediction model development, validation, or updating. Critical for clinical risk scores, prognostic models, and AI diagnostic tools. TRIPOD+AI extends it for machine learning models specifically.
Extensions: TRIPOD+AI (for AI/ML prediction models): formally released 2024
Journal requirement: Increasingly required at BMJ, Lancet Digital Health, Nature Medicine for prediction model manuscripts
Official website + checklist download ↗Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards
Updated to CHEERS 2022, a 28-item checklist for health economic analyses. Required when submitting health technology assessments or cost-effectiveness analyses to health policy or clinical journals.
Journal requirement: Required at Value in Health, BMJ, Lancet, and health economics journals
Official website + checklist download ↗Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence
Updated to SQUIRE 2.0 in 2015. A 19-item checklist for reporting quality improvement work: interventions aimed at improving healthcare delivery, safety culture, or patient outcomes. Less commonly known but expected at clinical quality journals.
Journal requirement: Required at BMJ Quality & Safety, JAMA Network Open (QI studies), Joint Commission Journal
Official website + checklist download ↗Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology
A 35-item checklist specifically for meta-analyses of observational (non-randomized) studies: a distinct design from PRISMA's scope. Particularly relevant for epidemiology, nutritional research, and environmental health.
Journal requirement: Recommended at JAMA, Am J Epidemiology, and epidemiology-focused journals
Official website + checklist download ↗REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely-collected health Data
An extension of STROBE for studies using administrative and routinely collected data: EHR databases, insurance claims, disease registries. Increasingly relevant as EHR-based research scales up.
Journal requirement: Recommended at JAMIA, J Am Med Informatics Association, and clinical informatics journals
Official website + checklist download ↗The EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network maintains the largest database of reporting guidelines for health research. Their database at equator-network.org covers 500+ guidelines across study types, specialties, and interventions.
If your study type isn't covered by the 12 guidelines above: for example, a qualitative study (COREQ), a mixed-methods study (GRAMMS), a gene association study (STREGA), or an economic model (ISPOR-SDM): the EQUATOR database is the authoritative source.
Most journals now ask authors to confirm which reporting guideline applies and to submit the completed checklist alongside the manuscript. EQUATOR provides a reporting checklist wizard that walks through the decision tree systematically.
Download the checklist early
Download the checklist at the start of writing, not after. Checklists identify what you need to report, and some items (blinding procedures, randomization details, allocation concealment) require documentation that's easier to describe while it's fresh.
Go item by item
For each checklist item, confirm where in the manuscript the required information appears and note the page and section. Many journals ask you to submit the checklist with page numbers filled in for every item.
Note any not-applicable items explicitly
If an item doesn't apply to your study, say so in the checklist: don't leave it blank. Blank items look like omissions. "N/A: no blinding was possible given the intervention design" is better than nothing.
Submit the completed checklist as a supplementary file
Most journals require the completed checklist as a supplementary file, not as part of the main manuscript. Check the author instructions for the required format: some journals have their own version of the checklist in their submission system.
Practical note
Ready to apply this to a real draft?
Use the public submission-readiness path when you already have a manuscript and need a draft-specific signal, not just a general guide.
Best for researchers who want a fast readiness read before deciding whether to revise, retarget, or submit.
Related guides in this collection
Pre-Submission Checklist
Use this after picking the reporting framework to make sure the rest of the submission package is ready.
Journal Submission Specs
Pair checklist selection with journal-specific abstract, word-count, and file-format requirements.
Data Sharing Requirements
Follow this if the reporting checklist needs a formal data-availability statement or repository plan.
Reference Library
Return to the full research reference library for timelines, acceptance rates, and policy guides.
The guideline depends on your study design. Use CONSORT for randomized controlled trials, STROBE for observational studies (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional), PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, STARD for diagnostic test accuracy studies, SPIRIT for clinical trial protocols, ARRIVE for animal research, and TRIPOD for prediction model studies. The EQUATOR Network (equator-network.org) maintains the most complete searchable database - search by study type to find the applicable guideline and its checklist.
Most top journals now require a completed reporting guideline checklist at submission. NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, and PLOS Medicine all mandate CONSORT for RCTs and PRISMA for systematic reviews. Even where not mandatory, reviewers familiar with the guidelines will flag incomplete reporting as a major revision point. Following the guideline from the start - during study design, not just at write-up - is the most efficient approach, since retrofitting incomplete reporting after data collection is often impossible.
EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) is the central resource for reporting guidelines in health research. Their website (equator-network.org) hosts over 500 reporting guidelines organized by study type, with downloadable checklists, flow diagrams, and explanation-and-elaboration documents. If you're unsure which guideline applies to your study, the EQUATOR reporting guideline selector tool walks you through a short questionnaire to identify the right one. Journals often link directly to the EQUATOR website in their author instructions.