Reporting quality of methodological components in family medicine residency theses in Türkiye: A STROBE-based meta-research study (2016–2024)

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the reporting quality of methodological components in family medicine residency theses completed in Türkiye between 2016 and 2024, based on adherence to the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) checklist, using the National Thesis Centre of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).Methods: This meta-research study employed a retrospective cross-sectional design. Among 1,725 eligible family medicine residency theses indexed between 2016 and 2024, a systematic sample of 319 theses was selected for detailed evaluation. Each thesis was assessed for compliance with STROBE items, and section-based reporting completeness rates were calculated.Results: Most theses were cross-sectional in design (75.9%). The most frequent topic areas were chronic diseases (35.1%) and preventive health services (23.5%). Reporting completeness was highest in the Introduction (92.0%) and Discussion (84.1%) sections, whereas lower rates were observed in the Methods (58.4%) and Other Information (45.3%) sections. Among critical methodological items, reporting of bias sources (28.5%), handling of missing data (35.1%), and sample size or power calculation (42.3%) showed comparatively low completeness.Conclusions: Family medicine residency theses demonstrate substantial variability in reporting completeness, particularly in method-related domains. Strengthening structured research training and integrating reporting guidelines early in the thesis process may improve transparency and evaluability of future research outputs.