The number of questions with R-scores of ‘N/A’ were highest among Social Sciences and Humanities journals (3.72%; n = 59) and lowest among Health Sciences journals (1.31%; n = 32) (Supplementary Table 4). The question with the highest number of ‘N/A’ responses related to image checking (n = 50), followed by questions referring to ethics statements and reporting guidelines (Table 8).
                                                 
 Question    Essential Area    Number of ‘N/A’ responses  
24. Do you check images for inappropriate manipulation?   Ethics   50  
39. Do you ask authors to state the ethical standards required for experiments performed on animals/humans, and do you publish in their article a statement regarding these?   Ethics   26  
3. Do you refer reviewers to reporting guidelines such as CONSORT, PRISMA, etc. (http://www.equator-network.org/)?   Integrity   19  
36. Do your author guidelines explain the minimum requirements for completeness of reporting their research (e.g. CONSORT guidelines, www.consort-statement.org), and do you ensure that the requirements are always met?   Integrity   18