• Frank Kunath, Henrik R Grobe, Gerta Rücker, Dirk Engehausen, Gerd Antes, Bernd Wullich, and Jörg J Meerpohl.
• German Cochrane Centre, Institute of Medical Biometry and Medical Informatics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg/Br., Germany. kunath @ cochrane.de
• Urol. Int. 2012 Jan 1; 88 (1): 54-9.

IntroductionReporting guidelines aim to ensure adequate and complete reporting of clinical studies and are an indispensable tool to translate scientific results into clinical practice. The extent to which reporting guidelines are incorporated into the author instructions of journals publishing in the field of urology remained unclear.Materials And MethodsWe assessed the author instructions of uro-nephrological journals indexed in 'Journal Citation Reports 2009'. Two authors independently assessed the author guidelines. We evaluated additional information including whether a journal was published by or in association with a medical association. Discrepancies were resolved by re-checking the respective author instructions and by discussion with a third author.ResultsThe recommendations of the International Committee of Journal Editors were endorsed by 32 journals (58.2%) but were mentioned in 12 (37.5%) only to give general advice about manuscript preparation. Fourteen journals (25.5%) mentioned at least one reporting guideline, with CONSORT the most frequently cited. Journals with high impact factors were more likely to endorse CONSORT (p < 0.009). Other reporting guidelines were mentioned by <6% of the journals.ConclusionAll key stakeholders involved in the publication process should more frequently promote the awareness and use of reporting guidelines.Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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