A researcher who has never used a formal reporting guideline before usually runs into the same wall: a journal’s “Instructions for Authors” says a checklist is required, but there are more than 400 reporting guidelines in circulation and it is not obvious which one applies to a given study. This page exists to answer that one question — which guideline do I need? — and to point to CASRAI’s existing, more detailed coverage of the major guidelines rather than duplicate it.
What Is the EQUATOR Network?
The EQUATOR Network (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) is an international initiative, operating since 2006, that promotes accurate and transparent reporting of health research. Its coordinating UK centre — the UK EQUATOR Centre — is based in the Centre for Statistics in Medicine at the University of Oxford. EQUATOR does not write every guideline itself; instead it maintains the Reporting Guidelines Library, a centralised, searchable database of more than 400 guidelines and their extensions, and provides training and resources on how to use them.
It’s worth keeping a reporting guideline distinct from a methodological guide. A reporting guideline (CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, and the others below) specifies what a completed study must document so that readers, reviewers, and reproducers can evaluate it. Methodological guidance — such as the Cochrane Handbook for systematic reviews — tells you how to actually conduct the study. Most researchers need both, but they answer different questions.
How to Find a Guideline on EQUATOR’s Site
- Filter by study type. The Library’s search lets you filter by the kind of study (randomised trial, observational study, qualitative research, diagnostic/prognostic study, and so on), which is usually faster than searching by guideline name if you don’t already know it.
- Check your target journal’s Instructions for Authors first. Many journals name a specific checklist (and sometimes a specific extension) as a submission requirement, particularly in clinical and health sciences — that requirement should override a generic choice from the Library.
- Look for extensions before assuming the base checklist is enough. Most major guidelines have extensions for specific designs — for example CONSORT has separate extensions for pragmatic trials, non-inferiority/equivalence trials, and cluster-randomised trials, and PRISMA has PRISMA-ScR for scoping reviews. Using the base checklist when an extension exists is a common reporting gap.
- When more than one guideline could apply, use both. A systematic review of randomised trials is reported against PRISMA, but the individual included trials were (or should have been) reported against CONSORT — the two aren’t competitors, they cover different levels of the same evidence chain.
Reporting Guideline by Study Design
This table is the fastest way to find the right guideline. Where CASRAI has its own detailed explainer, it’s linked; where it doesn’t yet, the guideline name links to the EQUATOR Network’s own guidance.
| Study Design | Guideline | What It’s For | Learn More |
|---|---|---|---|
| Randomised controlled trial | CONSORT | Reporting the design, conduct, analysis, and findings of an RCT (2010 statement, plus design-specific extensions) | CASRAI: CONSORT Statement guide · CONSORT 2010 definition |
| Trial protocol (before the trial starts) | SPIRIT | Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials — what a trial protocol document should contain | EQUATOR: SPIRIT statement |
| Observational study (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional) | STROBE | STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology | CASRAI: STROBE definition · Clinical study design types |
| Systematic review / meta-analysis | PRISMA 2020 | Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses | CASRAI: PRISMA 2020 definition · PRISMA and systematic review methodology |
| Scoping review | PRISMA-ScR | PRISMA extension for scoping reviews, which map a body of literature rather than pool numerical results | CASRAI: PRISMA-ScR definition · Scoping review definition |
| Qualitative research (interview- and focus-group-based) | COREQ | Consolidated criteria for Reporting Qualitative research | CASRAI: Writing the qualitative methodology section |
| Qualitative research (broader range of designs) | SRQR | Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research — a broader alternative to COREQ, less interview-specific | CASRAI: Writing the qualitative methodology section |
| Diagnostic accuracy study | STARD | Standards for Reporting Diagnostic accuracy studies | EQUATOR: STARD |
| Prediction model (prognosis or diagnosis) | TRIPOD | Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis (extended by TRIPOD+AI for machine-learning models) | EQUATOR: TRIPOD |
| Animal research (in vivo) | ARRIVE 2.0 | Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments | CASRAI: ARRIVE 2.0 definition |
| Quality improvement study | SQUIRE | Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE 2.0) | EQUATOR: SQUIRE |
| Case report | CARE | CAse REport guidelines | CASRAI: CARE guidelines definition · Writing a CARE-guided case report abstract |
| Economic evaluation (cost-effectiveness, cost-utility) | CHEERS | Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS 2022) | EQUATOR: CHEERS |
Systematic Reviews Have the Deepest CASRAI Coverage
Because evidence synthesis is one of the most reporting-guideline-intensive areas of research, CASRAI has built out substantial supporting content beyond the core PRISMA 2020 definition: a PRISMA-P-aligned protocol template, a worked structured-abstract example, the PRISMA flow diagram explained, guidance on PROSPERO registration, the distinction between a rapid review and a systematic review, and a roundup of AI tools for systematic review screening and risk-of-bias assessment. Start from the systematic review definition if you’re new to the terminology, or the protocol paper definition if you’ve been asked to publish your review protocol separately before running the review.
Is Following a Reporting Guideline Mandatory?
It depends on the journal, not on EQUATOR itself — EQUATOR maintains the library and promotes use of these guidelines but doesn’t enforce them. In practice, most major health-science and clinical journals require authors to submit a completed checklist (and often the manuscript page numbers where each item is addressed) alongside the manuscript for the relevant study design, and many make this an explicit part of their reporting standards for submission. Some publishers, including Nature Portfolio, use their own structured reporting summary forms that overlap heavily with ARRIVE, CONSORT, and related checklists. Completing the checklist is generally treated as part of demonstrating research transparency, and reviewers and editors increasingly reference it directly during peer review — see CASRAI’s guide to structured abstract format across ICMJE, CONSORT, and PRISMA for how these requirements show up at the abstract level specifically.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does EQUATOR stand for?
Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research. It’s the name of the network and library, not a reporting guideline itself — there is no “EQUATOR checklist” to complete.
Is using a reporting guideline required to get published?
Not universally, but it’s close to standard practice at established health-science journals, which typically require a completed checklist as part of submission. Always check the specific journal’s Instructions for Authors rather than assuming.
Which reporting guideline should I use for a case report?
CARE (CAse REport guidelines). See CASRAI’s CARE guidelines definition and its companion guide on writing a CARE-guided abstract.
Is there a reporting guideline for qualitative research?
Yes — COREQ (interview- and focus-group-based studies) and SRQR (a broader alternative). Both are covered in CASRAI’s guide to writing a qualitative methodology section.
What is the difference between CONSORT and SPIRIT?
SPIRIT applies to the trial protocol, written before the trial starts and often before ethics approval. CONSORT applies to the completed trial report, written after results are in. A single trial will typically be reported against both, at different stages.
What is the difference between PRISMA and PRISMA-ScR?
PRISMA 2020 is for systematic reviews and meta-analyses that synthesize findings, often statistically, to answer a focused question. PRISMA-ScR is for scoping reviews, which map the breadth of literature on a topic rather than pool results toward a single answer — see CASRAI’s scoping review definition for the distinction in study aims.
Do EQUATOR reporting guidelines apply outside health research?
EQUATOR’s own remit is health research specifically, though several of its guidelines (particularly ARRIVE for animal research and STROBE-adjacent observational-study principles) are also used or adapted in adjacent life-science and biomedical fields. Non-health disciplines generally rely on their own reporting standards rather than the EQUATOR library.
