Submitting your report
The HTA programme publishes the findings of the research it commissions within its journal series, Health Technology Assessment. Researchers are required to submit a draft final report within fourteen days of the end of their research. After a period of editorial review, and if appropriate and suitable, this report will be published within the journal series.
The journal series is indexed on MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL, and journal issues are also assessed for inclusion in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects. The journal’s 2006 Impact Factor (5.29) ranked it in the top 10 per cent of medical and health-related journals. To ensure that journals are high quality, it is important that draft final reports meet certain requirements. Instructions for authors drafting a final report are available.
Research teams are encouraged to plan the submission of their draft final report in detail and to allocate resources to the editorial processes that follow submission and precede final publication, as contractual penalties may be applied for reports that become overdue.
Researchers also need to provide information for various external bodies at the same time as submitting their draft final report. This includes an abstract for inclusion on the Research Findings Register (ReFer).
Download ReFeR abstract template (rich text format, 75kb)
Advice about this and other information needed for external bodies is also included in the instructions for authors.
Authors of screening-related reports are also required to complete an appraisal criteria document devised by the National Screening Committee (NSC). This should be included as an appendix to your draft final report.
- Download the NSC appraisal criteria (word, 17kb)
Journal requirements
Some medical journals, through the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), require a clinical trial to be registered with an authorised register before they will accept it for publication.
Currently, the registries that meet all of the ICMJE’s criteria for an acceptable registry are
All HTA-funded randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are registered free of charge with the ISRCTN register. Non-RCTs are encouraged to register with clinicaltrials.gov (registration is free) to ensure publication.
News feeds