Transparency, openness and quality of health research

• Professor Gary Collins

The EQUATOR mission is to achieve accurate, complete, and transparent reporting of all health research studies to support research reproducibility and usefulness. Our work increases the value of health research and helps to minimise avoidable waste of financial and human investments in health research projects.

To achieve its mission the EQUATOR Network has the following major goals:

• Maintain and further develop a comprehensive collection of online resources providing up-to-date information, tools and other materials related to health research reporting (Library for health research reporting)
• Actively promote the use of reporting guidelines and good research reporting practices through an education and training programme
• Assist in the development, dissemination and implementation of robust reporting guidelines
• Support journals, universities and other organisations in implementing reporting guidelines through development of tools, strategies, education and other activities
• Undertake research projects enhancing the value of health-related research

The Transparency, Openness and Quality of Health Research Group are part of BESTEAM.

View the BESTEAM staff list

• Developing guidance for transparent reporting of analytical code used in prediction model studies (TRIPOD-Code)
• Reporting completeness of clinical trials evaluating large language model interventions in medicine
• Checklist for protocols of systematic reviews on prognosis and prediction model studies (TRIPOD-SR-Protocol)
• Guidance for the Content of Statistical Analysis Plans with Initial Data Analysis for Observational Studies (SAPI)
• Developing reporting recommendations for prognostic factor studies (TRIPOD-PF)
• Evaluating the effect of structured SPIRIT-based templates on completeness of reporting in RCT protocols
• Developing reporting recommendations for clinical prediction model and predictive AI study protocols

We welcome collaborations with researchers from a wide range of backgrounds. We work with clinicians, journal editors, and health researchers seeking to improve the transparency and completeness of published research, as well as with methodologists and meta-researchers with an interest in the development, dissemination, and evaluation of reporting guidelines through the EQUATOR Network. Whether your primary interest lies in tackling a specific applied problem in research reporting or in advancing the broader science of meta-research, we would be happy to hear from you.

Prospective PhD students and postdoctoral researchers are particularly encouraged to get in touch.

Collins GS, Moons KGM, Dhiman P, Riley RD, Beam A, Van Calster B, Ghassemi M, Liu X, Reitsma JB, van Smeden M, Boulesteix AL, Camaradou J, Celi LA, Denaxas S, Denniston AK, Glocker B, Golub R, Harvey H, Heinz G, Hoffman M, Kengne AP, Lam E, Lee N, Loder E, Maier-Hein L, Mateen B, McCradden M, Oakden-Rayner L, Ordish J, Parnell R, Singh K, Wynants L, Logullo P. (2024) ‘TRIPOD+AI statement: an updated guideline for reporting clinical prediction models that use regression and machine learning methods’. BMJ, 385, e078378.

Hopewell S, Chan AW, Collins GS, Hróbjartsson A, Moher D, Schulz KF, Runn T, Aggarwal R, Berkwits M, Berlin JA, Bhandari N, Butcher NJ, Campbell MK, Chidebe R, Elbourne D, Farmer A, Fergusson D, Golub RM, Goodman SN, Hoffman T, Ioannidis JPA, Kahan BC, Knowles R, Lamb SE, Lewis S, Loder E, Offringa M, Ravaud P, Richards D, Rockhold FW, Schriger DL, Siegfried N, Staniszewska S, Taylor R, Thabane L, Torgerson D, Vohra S, White IR, Boutron I. (2025) ‘CONSORT 2025 Statement: updated guideline for reporting randomised trials’. Lancet, 405, 1633—1640.

Harwood J, Albury C, de Beyer JA, Bian Z, Duan Y, Kirtley S, Schlüssel MM, Zhao L, Collins GS. What influences whether researchers adhere to healthcare reporting guidelines successfully? A thematic synthesis. Research Integrity and Peer Review 2026; 11: 33.

Chan AW, Boutron I, Hopewell S, Moher D, Schulz KF, Collins GS, Tunn R, Aggarwal R, Berlin JA, Bhandari N, Butcher NJ, Campbell MK, Chidebe R, Elbourne D, Farmer A, Fergusson D, Golub RM, Goodman SN, Hoffmann T, Ioannidis JPA, Kahan B, Knowles R, Lamb SE, Lewis S, Loder E, Offringa M, Ravaud P, Richards D, Rockhold FW, Schriger DL, Siegfried N, Staniszewska S, Taylor R, Thabane L, Torgerson D, Vohra S, White IR, Hróbjartsson A. SPIRIT 2025 Statement: updated guideline for protocols of randomised trials. JAMA 2025; 334: 435—443.

Gibson AD, White NN, Collins GS, Barnett AG. Evidence of unreliable and poor data provenance in clinical prediction model research and clinical practice. BMC Medicine 2026; 24: 376.

Sounderajah V, Guni A, Liu X, Collins GS, Karthikesalingam A, Markar SR, Golub RM, Denniston AK, Shetty S, Moher D, Bossuyt PM, Darzi A, Ashrafian H, on behalf of the STARD-AI Steering Committee and Consensus Group. The STARD-AI statement: a reporting guideline for artificial intelligence centred diagnostic test accuracy studies. Nature Medicine 2025; 31: 3283—3289.

Snell KIE, Levis B, Damen JAAG, Dhiman P, Debray TPA, Hooft L, Reitsma JB, Moons KGM, Collins GS, Riley RD. Transparent reporting of multivariable prediction models for individual prognosis or diagnosis – guidance for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (TRIPOD-SRMA). BMJ 2023; 381: e073538.

Vasey B, Nagendran M, Campbell B, Clifton D, Collins GS, Denaxas S, Denniston A, Faes L, Geerts B, Ibrahim M, Liu X, Mateen BA, Mathur P, McCradden M, Morgan L, Ordish J, Rogers C, Saria S, Ting DSW, Watkinson P, Weber W, Wheatstone P, McCulloch P, and the DECIDE-AI expert group. DECIDE-AI: Consensus-based reporting guidelines for the early-stage clinical evaluation of decision support systems drive by artificial intelligence. BMJ 2022; 377: e070904.