Keele Research Repository

Prognosis research is concerned with predicting outcomes to make health care more effective. It has a crucial role to play in clinical and policy decision-making. The quality of much prognosis research is poor, evidenced by incomplete reporting, poor data sharing, incomplete registrations, and absent study protocols. Initiatives to improve transparency in trials include reporting guidelines, data pooling, registers, and journal requirements for protocols. Prognosis research could be transformed by similar initiatives. Routine registration of all prognostic studies, linked to an accessible study protocol using agreed reporting guidelines, would improve transparency and promote data sharing. Concern about applying transparency methods to observational research could be resolved by flexibility to update date-stamped protocols during prognosis studies.