The ACCORD checklist is published in PLOS Medicine; you can download a copy of the article here. You can also download an editable (Word-format) copy of the checklist here. The ACCORD Explanation & Elaboration document, which includes examples of good reporting practice for each item, is available here. When you use the ACCORD checklist, please consider completing our short feedback survey. 

Welcome to the ACCORD Website. On this page, you can find out:

What is ACCORD and how it should be used

ACCORD stands for ACcurate COnsensus Reporting Document. It is a tool to guide the reporting of biomedical studies using consensus methods when they are written up for publication.

Consensus methods harness the knowledge of experts and other stakeholders, such as patients, to support clinical decision-making in areas in which evidence is limited, inconsistent or absent. They do this by providing a structured way of defining the level of agreement or disagreement on specific topics. Consensus methods are used in many areas of medicine. For instance, they are often required in rare diseases and when there is little experience with a new type of treatment, and they played a role in decision-making during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, when the results from consensus studies are published, the reporting is often inconsistent and incomplete. Without clear and detailed reporting of the consensus method used, it is hard to tell how robust the approach was and whether there were any aspects of the approach that may have influenced the results in an important way. ACCORD aims to improve the completeness, transparency and consistency of the reporting of consensus studies.

What has been published and what resources are available

The ACCORD checklist

  • The ACCORD checklist is published in PLOS Medicine; the article can be accessed here.

  • An editable (Word-format) version of the checklist can be downloaded here. You can use this checklist to track which items you have fully reported.

  • The ACCORD Explanation and Elaboration document, which provides additional guidance on how to interpret the checklist items, including examples of good reporting practice, is available here.
Other publications

2024

  • van Zuuren EJ, et al. Developing reporting checklist items from systematic review findings: a roadmap and lessons to be learned from ACCORD. J Clin Epidemiol. 2024 Aug 2:174:111490. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2024.111490. Available at the journal website here

  • van Zuuren EJ. Tuning up the chords of consensus research with the ACcurate COnsensus Reporting Document (ACCORD). Br J Dermatol. 2024 Aug 14;191(3):311-314.  doi: 10.1093/bjd/ljae215. Available at the journal website here

  • Harrison N, et al. Accurate COnsensus Reporting Document (ACCORD) checklist: a reporting guideline for consensus methods. Presented at the 2024 European Meeting of ISMPP, 23-24 January 2024, poster 22. Download a copy of the poster here.

  • Gattrell WT, et al. The ACCORD guideline for reporting consensus methods: results of an implementation study. Presented at the 2024 European Meeting of ISMPP, 23-24 January 2024, poster 22. Download a copy of the poster here.

2023

  • Goldman K, et al. Lessons learned during ongoing development of the ACCORD reporting guideline for studies using consensus methodologies. Presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of ISMPP, 24-26 April 2023, posted 28. Download a copy of the poster and the supplementary material.

  • Gattrell WT, et al. Accurate COnsensus Reporting Document (ACCORD): guidelines for reporting consensus methods. Presented at the GIN 2023 Hybrid Conference, 19-22 September, abstract 81. Download a copy of the presentation here.

  • Logullo P and Harrison N. The ACCORD checklist for reporting consensus: a practical writing exercise. Workshop at the GIN 2023 Hybrid Conference, 19-22 September, abstract 110. Download a copy of the presentation here.

2022

  • Gattrell WT and Harrison N. Consensus-based methods in biomedical research and clinical practice: The ACCORD study protocol for establishing a reporting guideline. Presented at the 2022 European Meeting of ISMPP, 25-26 January 2024. Download a copy of the slides here.

  • Gattrell WT, et al. ACCORD guideline for reporting consensus-based methods in biomedical research and clinical practice: a study protocol. Research Integrity and Peer Review 2022;7:3. Available at the journal website; download a copy of the article here.
  • van Zuuren EJ et al. Existing guidance on reporting of consensus methodology: a systematic review to inform ACCORD guideline development. BMJ Open 2022;12:e065154. Available at the journal website; download a copy of the article here.

  • Logullo P et al. Consensus in health: a systematic review to identify evidence gaps in consensus methodology. Towards a reporting guideline for consensus approaches in healthcare. Presented at the 9th International Congress on Peer Review and Scientific Publication, 8-10 September 2022. Download a copy of the poster here or watch a video of the authors explaining the work.

Other resources

  • “Using the ACCORD guideline to report consensus research: what medical writers need to know.” Workshop session for the European Medical Writers Association, 14 December 2023
    • Includes sessions on “How reporting guidelines help medical writers”, “An overview of consensus methods”, “The development and structure of the ACCORD checklist”, and “Examples of good consensus reporting.” Download a copy of the slides here; full recording available to EMWA members in the members’ area of the EMWA website.


What was involved in developing ACCORD

The ACCORD Steering Committee includes clinicians, methodologists, publication professionals, patients, journal editors and publishers, and members from the pharmaceutical industry. The co-Chairs and Steering Committee members who developed the checklist are listed below.

Co-Chairs

  • Will Gattrell, Medical publications professional
  • Niall Harrison, Open Health

Steering Committee

  • Paul Blazey, University of British Columbia
  • Keith Goldman, AbbVie
  • Amit Pali Hungin, University of Newcastle*
  • Ellen L. Hughes, Camino Communications
  • Patricia Logullo, University of Oxford and EQUATOR Network
  • Amy Price, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice and Patient Editor, BMJ
  • Esther J. van Zuuren, Leiden University Medical Centre
  • Christopher C. Winchester, Oxford PharmaGenesis
  • David Tovey, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology*

*Retired from the Steering Committee

The Steering Committee also acknowledge the members of the ACCORD Consensus Panel; those who contributed to the implementation study; Mark Rolfe, Helen Bremner, Amie Hedges and Mehraj Ahmed (Oxford PharmaGenesis) for project management and medical writing support; Laura Harrington (Ogilvy Health) for medical writing support; Jan Schoones (Leiden University Medical Centre) for assistance in development of the systematic literature review search strategy; and Zybs Fedorowicz for assistance with data screening, extraction and interpretation for the systematic literature review.

Future Plans for Accord

The ACCORD Steering Committee will continue work to support the understanding, use and impact of ACCORD. To support these efforts, when you use ACCORD, please consider completing our short feedback survey.

The Steering Committee encourages journal editors and publishers to include ACCORD in their instructions for authors. If you need any resources to enable you to do this, please email the co-Chairs.

If you are interested in translating or extending the checklist, please see the separate section below.

Who to contact if you are interested in translating or extending the checklist

ACCORD was developed to be applicable to biomedical studies using consensus methods. The Steering Committee will consider partnerships with groups interested in:

  • Translating the checklist to other languages, particularly Chinese and Spanish

If you are interested in translating the checklist, please email the co-Chairs with details of your proposed approach

  • Extending the checklist to reflect other uses or specific novel approaches

If you feel that an extension is needed, please email the co-Chairs with details of your rationale and proposed approach

Who to contact with any other questions

If you have a question or suggestion not covered by this page, please email the co-Chairs.

Page last updated: September 2024