EDITORIAL

Research Guidelines Endorsed by Annals of Plastic Surgery to Improve the Quality of Published Articles M. Felix Freshwater, MD e surgeons use checklists in the operating room to lessen the possibility of errors.1 Our checklists are based upon international safety guidelines.2 To improve the transparency and quality of published research, international guidelines, and checklists have been developed by groups that included journal editors, funders, epidemiologists, methodologists, statisticians, and researchers.3 Table 1 lists the type of study, guideline, and uniform resource locator that are relevant to plastic surgery. Each uniform resource locator leads to a guideline, elaboration, and explanation document and, if appropriate, checklist. Adoption of these guidelines has improved the quality and transparency of papers published in different journals.4,5 Now, leading journals, such as PLoS Medicine, require that a completed checklist for the relevant guideline accompany every submission. Recent systematic reviews have shown that the quality and transparency of plastic surgery articles need improvement.6–8 We believe that using these checklists and guidelines will improve the quality and transparency of articles submitted to Annals of Plastic Surgery. All of the materials in Table 1 are freely available for download. We urge all authors to familiarize themselves with the material before they commence their research, as a thorough understanding of the guidelines and accompanying explanation and elaboration articles will enable authors to design and perform better research that is more likely to be accepted for publication. The specific guidelines used depend upon the type of article. A randomized trial requires at least 3 guidelines—the Declaration of Helsinki, consolidated standards of reporting trials (CONSORT), and either statistical analyses and methods in the published literature (SAMPL), transparent reporting of a multivariable prediction model for individual prognosis or diagnosis (TRIPOD), whereas a systematic review might only use preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) for doing the review and PRISMA for reporting it. When authors submit their manuscripts, they should include a completed copy of the relevant checklist that indicates which pages of the manuscripts contain the various checklist items.

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REFERENCES 1. American Association of Medical Colleges. Ensure safer surgery through use of surgical checklists. Available at: https://www.aamc. org/initiatives/bestpractices/commitment/180482/ensuring_safer_surgery.html (Access verified February 20, 2015). 2. World Health Organization. WHO guidelines for safe surgery: safe surgery saves lives. Available at: http://www.who.int/patientsafety/ safesurgery/tools_resources/9789241598552/en/ (Access verified February 20, 2015). 3. PLOS Collections. Reporting guidelines collection. Available at: http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browse/issue/info:doi/10.1371/issue. pcol.v01.i18#id_Guidelines and Guidance (Access verified February 20, 2015). 4. Plint AC, Moher D, Morrison A, et al. Does the CONSORT checklist improve the quality of reports of randomized controlled trials: a systematic review. Med J Aust. 2006;185:263–267. 5. Roberts J. Successful implementation of a reporting guidelines policy: steps towards launching a process for improving reporting standards. Available at: http://www.equator-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/EQUATOR-Workshop-Jason-Roberts-slides-long-version.pdf (Access verified February 20, 2015). 6. Freshwater MF, Garcia-Zalisnak D, González-Ortiz N. Failure of plastic surgical clinical trials to document compliance with international ethical guidelines—a systematic review. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2013;66:3–8. 7. Agha RA, Camm CF, Doganay E, et al. Randomised controlled trials in plastic surgery: a systematic review of reporting quality. Eur J Plast Surg. 2014;37:55–62. 8. Agha RA, Lee SY, Jeong KJ, et al. Reporting quality of observational studies in plastic surgery needs improvement: a systematic review. Ann Plast Surg. 2015. [Epub ahead of print].

Received February 20, 2015, and accepted for publication, after revision, March 16, 2015. From the University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL. Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: none declared. Reprints: M. Felix Freshwater, MD, Department of Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine, 9155 S. Dadeland Blvd., Suite 1404 Miami, FL 33156-2739. E-mail: [email protected]. Copyright © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0148-7043/15/7502–0125 DOI: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000000534

Annals of Plastic Surgery • Volume 75, Number 2, August 2015

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Annals of Plastic Surgery • Volume 75, Number 2, August 2015

Editorial

TABLE 1. Annals of Plastic Surgery Guidelines for New Submissions (Access verified February 20, 2015) Indication

Ethics Systematic review performing Meta-analysis performing Systematic review reporting Meta-analysis reporting Diagnostic accuracy Randomized trial Observational study Case report Laboratory animal Multivariable prediction modeling Statistics/data

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Guideline

Link

Checklist

Declaration of Helsinki PRISMA-P PRISMA-P PRISMA PRISMA STARD CONSORT STROBE CARE ARRIVE TRIPOD SAMPL

www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/ http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma-protocols/ http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma-protocols/ www.prisma-statement.org/ www.prisma-statement.org/ www.stard-statement.org/ www.consort-statement.org/ www.strobe-statement.org/ http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/care/ https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/tripod-statement/ www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/sampl/

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Research Guidelines Endorsed by Annals of Plastic Surgery to Improve the Quality of Published Articles.

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