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Table 2 Characteristics of reporting guidelines

From: Methodology and reporting quality of reporting guidelines: systematic review

Items

Items

Number (%)

Study type(s) to be reporteda

Study design not specified

20 (33)

Randomized controlled trials

9 (15)

Laboratory/preclinical studies

5 (8)

Prospective clinical trials

2 (3)

Observational studyb

11 (18)

Economic evaluation

3 (5)

Systematic review/meta-analysis/HTAc

5 (8)

Qualitative research

2 (3)

Cross-sectional studies

2 (3)

Other specific design or types specified (diagnostic accuracy studies, quality improvement research, Realist syntheses, clinical practice guideline, Systematic review/meta-analysis/HTA)

12 (20)

Methods for initial itemsd

Literature review

25 (42)

Refer to existing reporting guidelines

20 (33)

Opinions of experts or consensus of experts

16 (27)

Consensus methodse

  

Formal

Delphi

13 (22)

Nominal group technique

3 (5)

Consensus meeting

21 (35)

Informal

Questionnaire grade

1 (2)

Circulating several versions of the statement within the group of developers and an external circle of potential users.

2 (3)

Web-based survey rating the importance of each of the checklist items

1 (2)

Terminated after fixed round(s) of Delphi

1

2 (3)

2

5 (8)

3

4 (7)

Stakeholders in the consensus process

Content experts

25 (42)

Epidemiologists

7 (12)

Journal editors

14 (23)

Methodologists

19 (32)

Othersf

14 (23)

Funding

Yes

36 (60)

No

4 (7)

Unclear

20 (33)

COI

Yes

14 (23)

No

28 (47)

Unclear

18 (30)

  1. aSome reporting guidelines are designed for more than one type of research
  2. bIncluding various kinds of observational studies, such as case report, cohort study, case–control study cross-sectional study
  3. cHTA: Health technology assessment
  4. dSome reporting guidelines used two or more methods to generate initial items
  5. eSome reporting guidelines used two methods
  6. fIncluding clinicians, funders, students, government agencies, professional organizations, publishers and patients