ACCORD guideline for reporting consensus-based methods in biomedical research and clinical practice: a study protocol

Abstract

Background Structured, systematic methods to formulate consensus recommendations, such as the Delphi process or nominal group technique, among others, provide the opportunity to harness the knowledge of experts to support clinical decision making in areas of uncertainty. They are widely used in biomedical research, in particular where disease characteristics or resource limitations mean that high-quality evidence generation is difficult. However, poor reporting of methods used to reach a consensus – for example, not clearly explaining the definition of consensus, or not stating how consensus group panellists were selected – can potentially undermine confidence in this type of research and hinder reproducibility. Our objective is therefore to systematically develop a reporting guideline to help the biomedical research and clinical practice community describe the methods or techniques used to reach consensus in a complete, transparent, and consistent manner. Methods The ACCORD (ACcurate COnsensus Reporting Document) project will take place in five stages and follow the EQUATOR Network guidance for the development of reporting guidelines. In Stage 1, a multidisciplinary Steering Committee has been established to lead and coordinate the guideline development process. In Stage 2, a systematic literature review will identify evidence on the quality of the reporting of consensus methodology, to obtain potential items for a reporting checklist. In Stage 3, Delphi methodology will be used to reach consensus regarding the checklist items, first among the Steering Committee, and then among a broader Delphi panel comprising participants with a range of expertise, including patient representatives. In Stage 4, the reporting guideline will be finalised in a consensus meeting, along with the production of an Explanation and Elaboration (E&E) document. In Stage 5, we plan to publish the reporting guideline and E&E document in open-access journals, supported by presentations at appropriate events. Dissemination of the reporting guideline, including a website linked to social media channels, is crucial for the document to be implemented in practice. Discussion The ACCORD reporting guideline will provide a set of minimum items that should be reported about methods used to achieve consensus, including approaches ranging from simple unstructured opinion gatherings to highly structured processes.

Existing guidance on reporting of consensus methodology: a systematic review to inform ACCORD guideline development

“…This manuscript conforms to the PRISMA statement 14 and follows a prespecified protocol. 13 The protocol was registered on 12 October 2021 at the Open Science Framework. 15…”

“…No further analyses were carried out, but these will follow during the next stage of the ACCORD project as per protocol. 13 …”

“…3 Deficiencies in the reporting of consensus methods have been well documented in the literature and are referred to in the protocol for the ACcurate COnsensus Reporting Document (ACCORD) project, which aims to develop a reporting guideline for methods used to reach consensus. 13 In accordance with the EQUATOR Network guidance in the toolkit for the development of reporting guidelines, the next step for the ACCORD project was a review of the relevant literature, which would ultimately inform the voting process. 3 Our objective was to undertake a thorough and comprehensive systematic review that seeks to identify evidence on the quality of reporting of consensus methodology, for subsequent development into a draft checklist of items for the ACCORD guideline.…”

“…No further analyses were carried out, but these will follow during the next stage of the ACCORD project as per protocol. 13 Patient and public involvement We involved patients, advocates and members of the lay public in the initial phases of this protocol, 13 15 as collaborators to develop this project and to coproduce the systematic review and coauthor the manuscript. They are collaborating with us by offering their experience with the use of consensus methods to develop guidelines and also systematic reviews.…”

“…Deficiencies in the reporting of consensus methods have been well documented in the literature and are referred to in the protocol for the ACcurate COnsensus Reporting Document (ACCORD) project, which aims to develop a reporting guideline for methods used to reach consensus. 13 In accordance with the EQUATOR Network guidance in the toolkit for the development of reporting guidelines, the next step for the ACCORD project was a review of the relevant literature, which would ultimately inform the voting process. 3 …”