Reporting Guidelines and the American Journal of Public Health's Adoption of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Widespread recognition of the need to improve the science of published research, as well as the moral and ethical reasons for adequately reporting study results, has spurred recent interest in strengthening journal research reporting through the use of reporting guidelines. Reporting guidelines also provide information for readers to judge study quality. American Journal of Public Health previously adopted the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials and Transparent Reporting of Evaluations With Nonrandomized Designs guidelines and recently endorsed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. In adopting these guidelines, the journal aims to support authors, reviewers, and editors in reporting and evaluating systematic reviews of public health policy and practice priorities. (Am J Public Health. 2012;102: 780-784. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300630)