Reporting Guidelines (EQUATOR)

To promote transparency, completeness, and reproducibility, CNJ requires authors to comply with internationally accepted reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design where an applicable guideline exists, as recommended by the EQUATOR Network.
Authors must:

Commonly used guidelines include, but are not limited to:

Study Design or Manuscript Type Applicable Guideline or Requirement
Randomized trials CONSORT 2025 and any relevant extension
Observational studies STROBE and any relevant extension
Mixed-methods studies GRAMMS, where applicable, together with the reporting guidelines appropriate to the quantitative and qualitative components
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses PRISMA 2020 and any relevant extension
Scoping reviews PRISMA-ScR
Rapid reviews PRISMA 2020, where applicable, together with transparent identification and justification of all accelerated, abbreviated, or otherwise modified review methods
Integrative or narrative reviews Relevant type-specific methodology; no single universal checklist applies. The search, selection, appraisal, and synthesis methods must be transparently reported.
Diagnostic accuracy studies STARD
Diagnostic or prognostic prediction-model studies TRIPOD+AI
Qualitative studies COREQ for studies using interviews or focus groups; SRQR for other qualitative research, as applicable
Clinical case reports or case series CARE
Empirical research case studies The reporting guideline appropriate to the study methodology, such as COREQ or SRQR for qualitative case studies. CARE applies specifically to clinical case reports.
Animal research ARRIVE 2.0
Concept Analysis and Theory Development No single universal EQUATOR checklist applies. Authors must clearly identify and transparently report the concept-analysis or theory-development method used. An applicable reporting checklist is required if the manuscript includes an empirical component.

Authors should use the most recent version of the applicable reporting guideline and any relevant extension. When no established reporting checklist exists, authors are not required to upload a checklist but must provide a transparent and sufficiently detailed account of the methodological or scholarly approach used.

Adherence to applicable reporting guidelines is mandatory and may be considered during initial editorial assessment and, where applicable, external peer review. Reporting guidelines support complete and transparent reporting but do not replace assessment of methodological quality, scientific validity, or research ethics.