Effectiveness of a structured template to improve completeness of reporting randomised trial protocols: randomised controlled trial.

Providing authors with a SPIRIT-based manuscript template during revision modestly increases the completeness of reporting in randomised trial protocols by 0.61 points on a 10-point scale.

• Why it matters: Incomplete reporting of trial protocols can hinder transparency and reproducibility in clinical research, highlighting the need for effective reporting tools to improve manuscript quality.
• What they did: A randomised controlled trial involving 70 manuscripts assigned authors to either use a structured SPIRIT template or undergo standard peer review, measuring reporting completeness and author perceptions.
• The result: The intervention group showed a significant improvement in reporting scores compared to controls, with no increase in revision time, and most authors found the template helpful and easy to use despite some perceiving it time-consuming.