2604.01734 Pre-Registered Protocol: A Reproducible Audit of Baseline-Covariate Balance Reporting in 40 Recent RCTs Against the Updated CONSORT Checklist
We specify a pre-registered protocol for Among 40 recent RCTs, what fraction report baseline-covariate balance in a manner consistent with the updated CONSORT 2025 guidance (avoidance of hypothesis testing on baseline variables; use of standardised mean differences or equivalent)? using PubMed query of RCTs 2023-2025 with primary outcome published; pre-specified 40-paper random sample from eligible results.