{"id":5551,"date":"2023-03-21T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/comic_strip\/best-practices-in-reporting-correlations-associations-and-regressions-in-biomedical-research\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T08:58:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T03:28:34","slug":"best-practices-in-reporting-correlations-associations-and-regressions-in-biomedical-research","status":"publish","type":"comic_strip","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/best-practices-in-reporting-correlations-associations-and-regressions-in-biomedical-research","title":{"rendered":"How to report correlation and regression analyses in a research paper"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 107%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Correlation and regression are powerful tools that can help biomedical researchers better understand the complex relationships between variables in their data, and make more informed decisions about treatments and interventions. Through correlation or regression analyses, researchers can analyze the strength and direction of the relationships among different variables, build predictive models, identify potential confounders, and thereby gain insights into the underlying mechanisms of different diseases, treatments, clinical conditions, or health outcomes. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 107%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Hence, it\u2019s important to conduct correlation and regression analyses rigorously and report their results appropriately. Here\u2019s a handy infographic on best practices in reporting these analyses.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-element file-default alignnone\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"https:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/Best%20practices%20in%20reporting%20correlations.png\" alt=\"Best practices in conducting and reporting correlation and regression analyses\n\n01 For Correlation Analysis\nAlways report direction of the correlation. Describe the correlation as positive or inverse, unless you\u2019re including the correlation coefficient (with the \u2013 sign if needed).\nIn your abstract, give the correlation coefficient along with using descriptors like \u201cstrong\u201d or \u201cmoderate\u201d. This gives readers a precise idea of the strength of your findings.\nIn your Methods section, mention the ranges you use to classify correlation coefficients as strong, weak, or moderate. These ranges may vary slightly among studies, so it\u2019s best to state these explicitly in your paper.\nBe careful about presentation: The \u201cr\u201d in \u201cPearson\u2019s r\u201d is usually lowercased, and the \u201c\u03c1\u201d in Spearman\u2019s rho is the Greek letter rho, not the English lowercase letter \u201cp\u201d.\n02 For Regression Analysis\nAlways report the regression equation for both simple and multiple regression analyses.\nReport a measure of the model\u2019s goodness-of-fit to your data, such as r-squared for simple regression and R-squared for multiple regression.\nFor simple linear regression, you can present the results graphically, in a scatter plot showing the regression line and its confidence bounds.\nIn your scatter plot, do not extend the regression line beyond the minimum and maximum values of your data.\nIf you\u2019re conducting multiple regression, report whether the variables were assessed for collinearity and interaction. Specify how the final model was developed (e.g., forward-stepwise).\n03 For Both\nCheck that the data meets the underlying assumptions for each test. For example, Pearson\u2019s r is calculated for continuous parametric variables while Spearman\u2019s rho is calculated for continuous nonparametric variables.\nReport the statistical software used and your significance threshold in the Methods section.\nIdentify the variables used in the analysis and summarize each with descriptive statistics.\nReport how you handled outliers or missing data, if applicable.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>How to report correlation and regression analyses in a research paper<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Section<\/th>\n<th>Key Points<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Correlation Analysis<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Always report direction (positive\/inverse) or include coefficient with sign.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Include correlation coefficient in abstract with descriptors like \u201cstrong\u201d or \u201cmoderate\u201d.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Define ranges for strong, weak, and moderate correlations in Methods section.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Use correct notation: lowercase <em>r<\/em> for Pearson\u2019s; Greek <em>\u03c1<\/em> for Spearman\u2019s.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Regression Analysis<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Report regression equation for simple and multiple regression.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Provide goodness-of-fit measures (r\u00b2 for simple, R\u00b2 for multiple regression).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Use scatter plots with regression line and confidence bounds.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Do not extend regression line beyond observed data range.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Report collinearity\/interaction checks and model-building approach.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Both<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Ensure assumptions of tests are met (parametric vs nonparametric).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Report statistical software and significance threshold.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Identify variables and summarize with descriptive statistics.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Explain handling of outliers and missing data.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 107%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><i>Would you like expert advice from a biostatistician when exploring relationships among your study variables? Editage\u2019s <\/i><a style=\"color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/services\/publishing-services-packs\/statistical-analysis?utm_source=editageinsights&amp;utm_medium=infographic&amp;utm_campaign=editage-insights-site-best-practices-correlation-analyses--row\"><i>Statistical Analysis &amp; Review Services<\/i><\/a><i> can help!<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;\">\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[2420,2417],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-5551","comic_strip","type-comic_strip","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-analysis","category-planning-to-write"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to report correlation and regression analyses | Editage Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn the best practices in reporting correlation or regression analyses in your research paper, such as ensuring assumptions are met.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/best-practices-in-reporting-correlations-associations-and-regressions-in-biomedical-research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best practices in reporting correlations, associations, and regressions in biomedical research | Editage Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s important to conduct correlation and regression analyses rigorously and report their results appropriately. 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