A. Purpose of the Recommendations
ICMJE developed these recommendations to review best practice and ethical standards in the conduct and reporting of research and other material published in medical journals, and to help authors, editors, and others involved in peer review and biomedical publishing create and distribute accurate, clear, reproducible, unbiased medical journal articles. The recommendations may also provide useful insights into the medical editing and publishing process for the media, patients and their families, and general readers. As some readers review only certain sections on an as-needed basis, some ICMJE guidance is reiterated in different sections so that each section is self-contained.