CLEAR guideline for radiomics: Early insights into current reporting practices endorsed by EuSoMII.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate current reporting practices in radiomics research, with a focus on CheckList for EvaluAtion of Radiomics research (CLEAR).
Methods: We conducted a citation search using Google Scholar to collect original research articles on radiomics citing the CLEAR guideline up to June 17, 2024. We examined the adoption of the guideline, adherence scores per publication, item-wise adherence rates, and self-reporting practices. An expert panel from the European Society of Medical Imaging Informatics Radiomics Auditing Group conducted a detailed item-by-item confirmation analysis of the self-reported CLEAR checklists.
Results: Out of 100 unique citations from 104 records, 48 original research papers on radiomics were included. The overall adoption rate in the literature was 2 %. Among the citing articles, 94 % (45/48) adopted CLEAR for reporting purposes, applying it to both hand-crafted radiomics (89 %) and deep learning (24 %). Self-reported checklists were included in 58 % (26/45) of these papers. Median study-wise adherence score for self-reported data was 91 % (interquartile range = 18 %). Mean confirmed adherence score was 66 % (standard deviation = 14 %). Difference between these scores was statistically significant, (mean = 21 %; standard deviation = 11 %), p < 0.001. Using an arbitrary 50 % adherence cut-off, the number of items with poor adherence increased from 3 to 15 after confirmation analysis, mostly comprised of open science-related items. In addition, several items were frequently misreported.
Conclusion: This study revealed significant discrepancies between self-reported and confirmed adherence to the CLEAR guideline in radiomics research, indicating a need for improved reporting accuracy and verification practices.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Burak Kocak, MD; Arnaldo Stanzione, MD, PhD; Michail E. Klontzas, MD, PhD; and Renato Cuocolo, MD, PhD are on the editorial board of the European Journal of Radiology. They have taken no part in the peer review or selection of this article. Roberto Cannella receives support for attending meetings from Bracco and Bayer; has research collaboration with Siemens Healthcare. Burak Kocak, MD, Renato Cuocolo, MD, PhD, Arnaldo Stanzione, MD, PhD, and Lorenzo Ugga, MD, PhD, took part in the development of the CLEAR guideline. Burak Kocak, MD, Renato Cuocolo, MD, PhD, Arnaldo Stanzione, MD, PhD, Andrea Ponsiglione, MD, PhD, and Roberto Cannella took part in the development of the CLEAR-E3 guideline. All of the authors hold editorial and peer reviewer positions in various journals, which could potentially influence the reporting practices results described in this study. The authors of this manuscript declare no other relationships with any companies, whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.
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