STARD guidelines: another piece of an intricate puzzle for evaluating the quality of scientific publishing

This focused issue of Annals of Translational Medicine supplies a comprehensive debate about the 2015 Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) guidelines. The editors of some authoritative journals provide their personal contribution to the topic, reviewing the many pros and the still remaining gaps about the publication of high quality diagnostic studies. As the Guest Editor of this issue, I would try to give simple keys of lecture that might help illustrate the substantial contribution emerging from the new 2015 STARD guideline, but also some crucial questions remaining unanswered.