Quality criteria for randomized controlled studies: obstetrical journal guidelines

Improving trustworthiness in research in women's health: A collective effort by OBGYN Editors

“…There have been several separate strategies proposed to prevent the publication of flawed RCTs and systematic reviews. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] We have agreed to implement a bundle of strategies 17 which will be required upon submission to our journals (Table 1). Non-adherence to these criteria will result in rejection.…”

Assuring integrity in Obstetrics and Gynecology research

“…Such investigations take time and must be worked for compliance with a number of clinical trial requirements outlined in IJGO's author submission guidelines, 6 in accordance with a set of recommendations recently co-authored by our Editor-in-Chief and a number of other major OBGYN journal Editors. 3 Among these requirements are the stipulations that: clinical trials must be registered prospectively in a named public trials registry (with registration number and URL provided); the manuscript must contain a statement of approval by an institutional Ethics Board (with name and reference ID provided); and there must be a statement of adherence to CONSORT Guidelines. We also require inclusion of a data-sharing statement (and we strongly encourage authors to share data where possible); a COI statement for all authors; acknowledgment of any funding sources; an author contributions section stating how each individual author contributed to the study; and a completed author questionnaire for each co-author, stating that they fulfill all of the ICMJE authorship criteria.…”

“…Editorial office processes and author guidelines have also been improved to ensure adherence to best practice, particularly in relation to RCTs. Following screening of new submissions by the Editor‐in‐Chief or Deputy Editor‐in‐Chief for scope, the IJGO Editorial Office checks for compliance with a number of clinical trial requirements outlined in IJGO's author submission guidelines, 6 in accordance with a set of recommendations recently co‐authored by our Editor‐in‐Chief and a number of other major OBGYN journal Editors 3 . Among these requirements are the stipulations that: clinical trials must be registered prospectively in a named public trials registry (with registration number and URL provided); the manuscript must contain a statement of approval by an institutional Ethics Board (with name and reference ID provided); and there must be a statement of adherence to CONSORT Guidelines.…”

“…Increasing attention is being paid to the integrity of scientific research in the fields of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as in many other healthcare fields. The number of retracted articles throughout the scientific literature has increased greatly in recent years, 1 with high‐profile allegations of research misconduct making international headlines in 2020, 2 and recently 129 retracted manuscripts in the field of Obstetrics were identified in Retraction Watch or PubMed 3 . Peer‐reviewed journals must continue to re‐evaluate and refine their processes in order to protect against fraudulent and questionable research.…”

“…As Anderson et al note, 3 it is preferable to prevent trials with scientific misconduct from being published in the first instance, rather than retract them post‐publication. We are confident that our improved editorial processes, stricter author guidelines, and increased scrutiny of clinical trials will help to cement the reputation of IJGO as a journal of trusted research and integrity.…”