A description of an intervention can explain what researchers intended to provide without establishing what participants actually received. For a health-research brief, preserve those two stages. Otherwise a protocol’s intended programme may be presented as a completed activity.
The TIDieR checklist distinguishes modifications, planned assessment of adherence or fidelity, and actual delivery as planned. Its notes also allow readers to locate information in other documents when it is not supplied in the main paper. Use those locations explicitly rather than filling gaps from an assumption.
A three-part source note
| Part | What belongs there |
|---|---|
| Intended delivery | The documented plan and its version. |
| Modifications | Changes reported, their timing and explanation. |
| Actual delivery | What the completed report says happened. |
This worksheet is an editorial aid. It does not prescribe a treatment or judge whether an intervention was implemented adequately.
Follow the document trail
If the report points to a manual, supplement or protocol, identify the referenced file and the section used. Preserve whether you actually accessed it. A link listed in a reference section is a lead, not proof that its contents were read.
If a version change affects the description, retain both versions with dates. Do not combine convenient details from several stages into a single intervention that no document actually describes.
Keep delivery and effectiveness distinct
A detailed account of implementation helps explain what was done. It does not establish that the intervention improved an outcome. That question needs the study’s relevant analysis and a qualified appraisal where clinical implications are involved.
When actual-delivery information is unavailable, state the missing element precisely. Avoid calling it perfect adherence or complete failure merely because the plan was clear.
No intervention was inspected or evaluated for this guide. It concerns accurate reporting of source documents, with no instructions for reproducing a clinical procedure or selecting a treatment.
Primary reporting guidance read 21 October 2026. Suggested note structures and explicitly fictional examples are editorial. No clinical result is evaluated.
Source: TIDieR2014 checklist items10-12. Related discussion: health information source quality.
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