Table 3 Editors’ awareness and use of guidelines and resources
Resource*Number of respondents†Percentage of respondents†
Not awareAware but not usedUsed
Other journals’ instructions167 (73)18 (12)38 (36)44 (52)
Blackwell Best Practice Guidelines212 (98)36 (31)32 (32)32 (37)
Blackwell helpdesk212 (98)59 (54)35 (39)6 (7)
COPE216 (102)64 (51)19 (20)17 (29)
ICMJE Uniform Requirements183 (75)72 (55)15 (21)13 (24)
GPP211 (98)79 (67)16 (24)5 (9)
EMWA guidelines209 (97)83 (71)14 (22)3 (7)
CSE207 (95)83 (80)13 (13)4 (7)
WAME212 (97)85 (79)10 (11)5 (10)
EASE207 (96)87 (84)10 (14)3 (2)
  • *Abbreviations and acronyms were used on the questionnaire, since we considered that if editors were genuinely aware of an organisation or document then they would be familiar with these.

  • †Figures in brackets indicate responses from healthcare editors.

  • COPE, Committee on Publication Ethics; CSE, Council of Science Editors; EASE, European Association of Science Editors; EMWA, European Medical Writers Association; GPP, Good Publication Practice for pharmaceutical companies; ICMJE, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors; WAME, World Association of Medical Editors.