AGReMA is an international guideline that helps researchers clearly explain how and why they study the mechanisms behind health treatments—known as mediation analyses. All the information needed to use these studies is often not included in research reports. AGReMA provides a simple checklist to ensure researchers report their methods consistently, improving transparency and helping clinicians and policymakers make better use of these findings.
When clinical trials are not possible to conduct, researchers can use observational data to “emulate” what a trial would have looked like, which can improve confidence in the observational study results. TARGET is an international guideline that gives researchers a structured way to explain their observational study design, decisions, and assumptions, reducing confusion and helping readers judge whether the results are reliable. TARGET improves trust in research that informs health decisions when clinical trials aren’t available.
Trustworthy research requires more than good science — it demands rigour, transparency, integrity, and a commitment to keeping the evidence base clean. Our work in this space includes mapping the landscape of retracted publications in pain research, identifying misconduct as the primary driver, and advocating for practical steps to stop flawed findings from circulating after withdrawal. More broadly, we are active contributors to the international effort to strengthen the foundations of pain research — from methodological rigour and open science practices through to equitable research design and the responsible communication of findings.
Research findings can only be critiqued, replicated, and acted upon when the methods and data behind them are openly available — yet our work has consistently shown that pain and sports science journals fall well short of the standards needed to support this. We have audited journal policies across both fields, finding low engagement with open science practices such as preregistration, data sharing, and reporting guidelines, and have developed and tested practical interventions — including audit-feedback approaches — to drive policy change. Our team has also played an active role in shaping the international infrastructure for open science, contributing to the updated Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines and to new editorial initiatives at The Journal of Pain designed to embed these practices into the publication process itself.
Feasibility of an Audit and Feedback Intervention to Facilitate Journal Policy Change
Open and transparent sports science research: the role of journals to move the field forward
Promoting Openness and Transparency to Advance Pain Science: New Initiatives at The Journal of Pain
Limited engagement with transparent and open science standards in the policies of pain journals: a cross-sectional evaluation