A Compendium of Reporting Guidelines for Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine from the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Network

High-quality and transparent reporting is fundamental to the credibility, reproducibility, and impact of health research. While widely endorsed reporting guidelines such as CONSORT and PRISMA have improved reporting across many fields, traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM) research presents distinctive conceptual, methodological, and contextual challenges that are not always adequately addressed by general frameworks. In response, a growing number of TCIM-specific reporting guidelines have been developed over the past two decades. This manuscript provides a structured compendium of all 30 reporting guidelines listed on the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Network under the clinical area labelled "Complementary and Alternative Medicine" as of March 2026. The compendium summarizes each reporting guideline's scope, study design focus, TCIM modality, relationship to established parent reporting guidelines where applicable, and methodological strengths and weaknesses. The identified reporting guidelines span a wide range of research domains, including randomized trials, protocols, systematic reviews, case reports, case series, clinical practice guidelines, and basic research, and encompass modalities such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, massage, moxibustion, cupping, biofield therapies, and reflexology. By consolidating these resources in a single, accessible overview, this compendium aims to support researchers, journal editors, and peer reviewers in identifying and applying appropriate TCIM-specific reporting guidance, thereby strengthening the transparency, consistency, and overall quality of TCIM research.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine
Published
2026-05-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1515/jcim-2026-0073
Primary Topic
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
Type
article
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article

A Compendium of Reporting Guidelines for Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine from the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Network

Niveen Syed, David Moher, Jeremy Y. Ng
Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
article

A Compendium of Reporting Guidelines for Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine from the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Network

Niveen Syed, David Moher, Jeremy Y. Ng
article en

Abstract

High-quality and transparent reporting is fundamental to the credibility, reproducibility, and impact of health research. While widely endorsed reporting guidelines such as CONSORT and PRISMA have improved reporting across many fields, traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM) research presents distinctive conceptual, methodological, and contextual challenges that are not always adequately addressed by general frameworks. In response, a growing number of TCIM-specific reporting guidelines have been developed over the past two decades. This manuscript provides a structured compendium of all 30 reporting guidelines listed on the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Network under the clinical area labelled "Complementary and Alternative Medicine" as of March 2026. The compendium summarizes each reporting guideline's scope, study design focus, TCIM modality, relationship to established parent reporting guidelines where applicable, and methodological strengths and weaknesses. The identified reporting guidelines span a wide range of research domains, including randomized trials, protocols, systematic reviews, case reports, case series, clinical practice guidelines, and basic research, and encompass modalities such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, massage, moxibustion, cupping, biofield therapies, and reflexology. By consolidating these resources in a single, accessible overview, this compendium aims to support researchers, journal editors, and peer reviewers in identifying and applying appropriate TCIM-specific reporting guidance, thereby strengthening the transparency, consistency, and overall quality of TCIM research.

Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine
University of Technology Sydney (AU), University of Ottawa (CA), Ottawa Hospital (CA), Robert Bosch Hospital (DE), Ottawa Public Health (CA), Hamilton Health Sciences (CA), Robert Bosch (Germany) (DE), McMaster University (CA)
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
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