CONSORT (for randomised trials) and PRISMA (for systematic reviews) are the two reporting standards pharma authors meet most often. They are also the two most commonly misunderstood, treated as a box-ticking exercise at submission rather than the structure of the paper itself.
Guidelines are architecture, not a checklist
A PRISMA-compliant systematic review is not a normal review with a flow diagram added. The protocol, search strategy, screening, extraction and synthesis all have to be designed to the standard from the start. Retrofit it, and the gaps are obvious to any editor.
The flow diagram reveals everything
A PRISMA flow diagram that does not reconcile, numbers that do not add up across identification, screening and inclusion, is an instant credibility loss. It signals the methodology was not followed transparently.
Embed from day one
At Ichelon, global reporting standards are embedded from the first draft through our Embedded Global Reporting Standards Workflow, then verified in the Compliance QC layer (QC03). Compliance is engineered in, not inspected on.
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