A systematic scoping review of adherence to reporting guidelines in health care literature (including cancer)

open access

Recommendation for health consumers
In accordance with the general principles of evidence-based health care practice,96 we encourage consumers or health care users to be actively involved in their health care by discussing their care options with their providers. Understanding information presented in published studies can be an important ingredient in these discussions. We suggest that health care users consider the evaluation of the quality of the information presented in the literature by looking for a guideline statement and a checklist to ensure the study reporting followed a certain standard that is appropriate for the particular study design.
Lastly, one element that all parties need to take into consideration is the importance of conducting large studies. Large studies have been shown to have a better quality of reporting.81,84,97 Large studies are also less prone to problems of bias and have better precision.

Conclusion
Reporting guidelines help to improve the quality and transparency of clinical studies and allow for systematic reviews and meta-analyses to provide evidence worthy of changing practice, improving knowledge, and better management of health and disease. The current reporting standards and adherence to guidelines are poor and are in need of major improvement. Steps need to be taken by all involved in the conducting and reporting of clinical research in order to achieve better standards of reporting, thus minimizing bias and providing reproducible studies that can be combined to reach conclusive evidence.