International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy - EQUATOR checklists

The EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network is an international initiative that seeks to improve the reliability and value of published health research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting and wider use of robust reporting guidelines.

For Review articles, Research articles and Short research reports, the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy requires the use of an appropriate reporting guideline. Authors must submit a completed checklist for the relevant guideline, indicating the manuscript page on which each checklist item is found. Editable checklists for reporting guidelines can be found on the EQUATOR Network site, www.equator-network.org (this opens in a new tab)  which also gives general information on how to choose the correct guideline and why guidelines are important. Using a checklist helps to ensure that the guideline has been used correctly. At minimum, the article must report the content addressed by each item of the identified checklist or state that the item was not considered in the study and, if relevant, the reason why not (for example, if you did not use blinding, the article should explain this). Meeting these basic reporting requirements will greatly improve the value of the paper, may facilitate/enhance the peer review process, and may enhance its chances for eventual publication.

Checklists are not simply an administrative hurdle. We ask this to be completed to check that all of the important information has been included in your article, and because it helps the editors and reviewers to complete the same check.