Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Mar 6:356:i6795.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.i6795.

Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI) Statement

Hilary Pinnock  1 , Melanie Barwick  2 , Christopher R Carpenter  3 , Sandra Eldridge  4 , Gonzalo Grandes  5 , Chris J Griffiths  6 , Jo Rycroft-Malone  7 , Paul Meissner  8 , Elizabeth Murray  9 , Anita Patel  6 , Aziz Sheikh  10 , Stephanie J C Taylor  6 ; StaRI Group
Affiliations

Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI) Statement

Hilary Pinnock et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Implementation studies are often poorly reported and indexed, reducing their potential to inform initiatives to improve healthcare services. The Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI) initiative aimed to develop guidelines for transparent and accurate reporting of implementation studies. Informed by the findings of a systematic review and a consensus-building e-Delphi exercise, an international working group of implementation science experts discussed and agreed the StaRI Checklist comprising 27 items. It prompts researchers to describe both the implementation strategy (techniques used to promote implementation of an underused evidence-based intervention) and the effectiveness of the intervention that was being implemented. An accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document (published in BMJ Open, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013318) details each of the items, explains the rationale, and provides examples of good reporting practice. Adoption of StaRI will improve the reporting of implementation studies, potentially facilitating translation of research into practice and improving the health of individuals and populations.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: research grants from Chief Scientist Office (HP), Asthma UK (AS, HP, ST), Farr Institute (AS), NIHR HS&DR (HP, ST), NIHR CLAHRC (ST) for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; CC is deputy editor-in-chief for Academic Emergency Medicine and on the editorial boards for the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and Annals of Internal Medicine's ACP Journal Club and serves as paid faculty for Emergency Medical Abstracts, JR-M is director of the NIHR HS&DR Programme, no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Disclaimers: The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the Department of Health.

Figures

None
Fig 1 Positioning of implementation studies and the focus of StaRI reporting standards (adapted from fig 12.1. in Brownson et al8)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chalkidou K, Anderson G. Comparative Effectiveness Research: International Experiences and Implications for the United States . www.nihcm.org/pdf/CER_International_Experience_09.pdf.
    1. Damschroder LJ, Aron DC, Keith RE, Kirsh SR, Alexander JA, Lowery JC. Fostering implementation of health services research findings into practice: a consolidated framework for advancing implementation science. Implement Sci 2009;4:50 10.1186/1748-5908-4-50 pmid:19664226. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Peters DH, Adam T, Alonge O, Agyepong IA, Tran N. Implementation research: what it is and how to do it. BMJ 2013;347:f6753.pmid:24259324. - PubMed
    1. Foy R, Sales A, Wensing M, et al. Implementation science: a reappraisal of our journal mission and scope. Implement Sci 2015;10:51 10.1186/s13012-015-0240-2 pmid:25928695. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pinnock H, Epiphaniou E, Pearce G, et al. Implementing supported self-management for asthma: a systematic review and suggested hierarchy of evidence of implementation studies. BMC Med 2015;13:127 10.1186/s12916-015-0361-0 pmid:26032941. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types