Editorial Policies of Pediatric Journals

Abstract

To study whether specific recommendations aiming to improve publication practice were included in author instructions of pediatric journals. Design: We identified 69 journals in the subject category "pediatrics" of the Journal Citation Report 2007 that publish original research articles. From the journals' online author instructions, we extracted information regarding endorsement of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts (URM) of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and of 5 major reporting guidelines such as the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement, disclosure of conflicts of interest, and trial registration. Two investigators collected data independently. Results: The URM were mentioned in author instructions of 38 of the 69 journals (55%). Endorsement of reporting guidelines was low: CONSORT was referred to most frequently (14 journals; 20%); each of the other 4 reporting guidelines was mentioned in less than 10% of author instructions. Fifty-four journals (78%) explicitly required authors to disclose conflicts of interest, and 16 (23%) either recommended or required trial registration. The odds of endorsing the URM increased by 2.25 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-4.34) per additional impact factor point. Similarly, the odds increased by 2.32 (95% CI, 0.95-5.70) for requiring disclosure of conflicts of interest and by 3.66 (95% CI, 1.74-7.71) for requiring trial registration. Conclusions: Many pediatric journals do not include recommendations that aim to improve publication practice in their author instructions. About one-fifth of journals do not require authors to disclose conflicts of interest on manuscript submission and more than three-quarters do not require/recommend trial registration.

Structure formats of randomised controlled trial abstracts: a cross-sectional analysis of their current usage and association with methodology reporting

“…From the ‘instruction to authors’ of each selected journal, we extracted journal type (general/specialty), word limit for abstracts, structure format required, headings required, whether detailed instruction was given for each heading required, and the endorsement level of the CONSORT for Abstracts reporting guidelines. In accordance with previous similar studies [ 44 – 46 ], endorsement level was categorised into: Not mentioned: the reporting guideline (RG) was not mentioned in the instruction; Recommended: the instruction suggested that the RG ought to be considered or used (e.g., ‘should…’, ‘please…’, ‘we suggest/encourage authors to…’); Required: the instruction stated that adherence to the RG is a condition for publication, or the corresponding RG checklist was required to be submitted (e.g., ‘authors must…’, ‘authors are required to…’). …”

Guidance in author instructions of hematology and oncology journals: A cross sectional and longitudinal study

“…Of several journal characteristics, the journal impact factor consistently showed a significant positive association with endorsement of any reporting guideline, the recommendations by the ICMJE and trial registration while start year and geographical region of journals were associated with endorsement of fewer of the domains in the author instructions. Despite the intrinsic weaknesses of the journal impact factor as a quality indicator [48], our study confirms its association with good publication practice as found in previous studies [11, 19, 25, 49]. Our study has shown that the endorsement of any of the domains is likely also associated with a stronger increase in journal impact factor.…”

How Psychiatry Journals Support the Unbiased Translation of Clinical Research. A Cross-Sectional Study of Editorial Policies

“…The results for all psychiatry journals are similar to overview findings in other specialities like paediatrics and urology that applied assessment tools similar to those applied in this study [31], [32], [33], [34]. One author of this study (JM) also contributed to the editorial policy analyses in paediatrics and urology (see table 4).…”