Ten simple rules for developing a reporting appraisal tool

In an ideal world, authors would report clearly and transparently exactly what they conducted. In reality, reporting is often incomplete, and key elements of research conduct are frequently missing from manuscripts. Reporting guidelines were developed to address this problem by helping authors identify what should be reported. These guidelines have been highly valuable for authors, but they are not well suited for appraising reporting during peer review or editorial assessment despite common use. This is because authors and appraisers have different needs: authors require a comprehensive guide for writing, whereas appraisers need a tool that is concise, repeatable, and easy to use. We therefore propose the development of reporting appraisal tools: operationalised tools designed specifically to assess whether a paper has reported the minimum essential elements of a study. To support their development, we present 10 simple rules.