Background Developing behaviour change interventions able to tackle major challenges such as non-communicable diseases or climate change requires effective and efficient use of scientific evidence. The Human Behaviour-Change Project (HBCP) aims to improve evidence synthesis in behavioural science by compiling intervention reports and annotating them with an ontology to train information extraction and prediction algorithms. The HBCP used smoking cessation as the first ‘proof of concept’ domain but intends to extend its methodology to other behaviours. The aims of this paper are to (i) assess the extent to which methods developed for annotating smoking cessation intervention reports were generalisable to a corpus of physical activity evidence, and (ii) describe the steps involved in developing this second HBCP corpus. Methods The development of the physical activity corpus involved: (i) reviewing the suitability of smoking cessation codes already used in the HBCP, (ii) defining the selection criteria and scope, (iii) identifying and screening records for inclusion, and (iv) annotating intervention reports using a code set of 200+ entities from the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology. Results Stage 1 highlighted the need to modify the smoking cessation behavioural outcome codes for application to physical activity. One hundred physical activity intervention reports were reviewed, and 11 physical activity experts were consulted to inform the adapted code set. Stage 2 involved narrowing down the scope of the corpus to interventions targeting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. In stage 3, 111 physical activity intervention reports were identified, which were then annotated in stage 4. Conclusions Smoking cessation annotation methods developed as part of the HBCP were mostly transferable to the physical activity domain. However, the codes applied to behavioural outcome variables required adaptations. This paper can help anyone interested in building a body of research to develop automated evidence synthesis methods in physical activity or for other behaviours.

Background Developing behaviour change interventions able to tackle major challenges such as non-communicable diseases or climate change requires effective and efficient use of scientific evidence. The Human Behaviour-Change Project (HBCP) aims to improve evidence synthesis in behavioural science by compiling intervention reports and annotating them with an ontology to train information extraction and prediction algorithms. The HBCP used smoking cessation as the first ‘proof of concept’ domain but intends to extend its methodology to other behaviours. The aims of this paper are to (i) assess the extent to which methods developed for annotating smoking cessation intervention reports were generalisable to a corpus of physical activity evidence, and (ii) describe the steps involved in developing this second HBCP corpus. Methods The development of the physical activity corpus involved: (i) reviewing the suitability of smoking cessation codes already used in the HBCP, (ii) defining the selection criteria and scope, (iii) identifying and screening records for inclusion, and (iv) annotating intervention reports using a code set of 200+ entities from the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology. Results Stage 1 highlighted the need to modify the smoking cessation behavioural outcome codes for application to physical activity. One hundred physical activity intervention reports were reviewed, and 11 physical activity experts were consulted to inform the adapted code set. Stage 2 involved narrowing down the scope of the corpus to interventions targeting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. In stage 3, 111 physical activity intervention reports were identified, which were then annotated in stage 4. Conclusions Smoking cessation annotation methods developed as part of the HBCP were mostly transferable to the physical activity domain. However, the codes applied to behavioural outcome variables required adaptations. This paper can help anyone interested in building a body of research to develop automated evidence synthesis methods in physical activity or for other behaviours.

AIM:To investigate predictors of participant eligibility, recruitment and retention in behavioural randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for smoking cessation. METHOD:Systematic review and pre-specified meta-regression analysis of behavioural RCTs for smoking cessation including adult (≥ 18-year-old) smokers. The pre-specified predictors were identified through a literature review and experts' consultation and included participant, trial and intervention characteristics and recruitment and retention strategies. Outcome measures included eligibility rates (proportion of people eligible for the trials), recruitment rates, retention rates and differential retention rates. RESULTS:A total of 172 RCTs with 89 639 participants. Eligibility [median 57.6%; interquartile range (IQR) = 34.7-83.7], recruitment (median 66.4%; IQR = 42.7-85.2) and retention rates (median 80.5%; IQR = 68.5-89.5) varied considerably across studies. For eligibility rates, the recruitment strategy appeared not to be associated with eligibility rates. For recruitment rates, use of indirect recruitment strategies (e.g. public announcements) [odds ratio (OR) = 0.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.11-0.82] and self-help interventions (OR = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.03-0.67) were associated with lower recruitment rates. For retention rates, higher retention was seen if the sample had ongoing physical health condition/s (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.04-2.63), whereas lower retention was seen amongst primarily female samples (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.71-0.98) and those motivated to quit smoking (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.55-0.99) when indirect recruitment methods were used (OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.38-0.97) and at longer follow-up assessments (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.79-0.87). For differential retention, higher retention in the intervention group occurred when the intervention but not comparator group received financial incentives for smoking cessation (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.02-1.77). CONCLUSIONS:In randomized controlled trials of behavioural smoking cessation interventions, recruitment and retention rates appear to be higher for smoking cessation interventions that include a person-to-person rather than at-a-distance contact; male participants, smokers with chronic conditions, smokers not initially motivated to quit and shorter follow-up assessments seems to be associated with improved retention; financial incentive interventions improve retention in groups receiving them relative to comparison groups.

Susan Michie, FMedSci, FAcSS, FBA is Professor of Health Psychology and Director of the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London. Professor Michie’s research focuses on human behaviour change in relation to health and the environment: how to understand it theoretically and apply theory and evidence to intervention and policy development, evaluation and implementation. Her research, collaborating with disciplines such as information science, environmental science, computer science and medicine, covers population, organisational and individual level interventions. Examples include the Human Behaviour-Change Project and Complex Systems for Sustainability and Health. She is an investigator on >15 research projects, including three addressing behaviour and the Covid-19 pandemic. She has published >500 journal articles and several books, including the Behaviour Change Wheel: A Guide to Designing Interventions. She serves as an expert advisor on the UK’s Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behavioural Science (Covid-19), the Lancet’s Covid-19 Commission and a member of the UK’s Independent SAGE. She serves on WHO’s Behavioural Insights and Sciences Technical Advisory Group, is Chair of the UK Food Standard Agency’s Advisory Committee for Social Sciences, is part of NIHR’s Behavioural Science Policy Research Unit, led UCL’s membership of NIHR’s School of Public Health Research and chaired the Academy of Social Science’s ‘Health of People’ project. Robert West is Professor Emeritus of Health Psychology at University College London. He specialises in addiction and behaviour change. He helped to create the blueprint for the UK’s national network of stop-smoking services and acts as an advisor to government on behaviour change. He has authored more than 900 scientific articles as well as several books including ‘Theory of Addiction’, ‘The SmokeFree Formula’, ‘The Behaviour Change Wheel’, and ‘Energise: The Secrets of Motivation’.

The Science of Behavior Change project represents a major advance in the way we approach the study of behavior and behavior change; the protocols in this special issue reflect the innovative approach to intervention development. Digital technology is transforming the way we conduct science and can greatly assist with developing protocols, reporting studies, and evidence synthesis. The journal Addiction has developed an online Paper Authoring Tool (PAT) for reporting full-scale randomized controlled trials that could also be used for reporting protocols and early phase trials. PAT aims to help authors ensure that they include all the required information and present it in a way that is clear and consistent in terms of language and phrasing. It also generates a computer-readable record that should greatly facilitate automation of evidence synthesis. PAT is intended to represent the first step in creation of a supportive ecosystem for the conduct of science, linking grant applications, study protocols, study reports, measures, reviews and study data in a coordinated online knowledge base. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction: Activities promoting research reproducibility and transparency are crucial for generating trustworthy evidence. Evaluation of smoking interventions is one area where vested interests may motivate reduced reproducibility and transparency. Aims: Assess markers of transparency and reproducibility in smoking behaviour change intervention evaluation reports.Methods: One hundred evaluation reports of smoking behaviour change intervention randomised controlled trials published in 2018-2019 were identified. Reproducibility markers of pre-registration, protocol sharing, data-, materials- and analysis script-sharing, replication of a previous study and open access publication were coded in identified reports. Transparency markers of funding and conflict of interest declarations were also coded. Coding was performed by two researchers, with inter-rater reliability calculated using Krippendorff’s alpha.Results: Seventy-one percent of reports were open access and 73% pre-registered. However, only 13% provided accessible materials, 7% accessible data and 1% accessible analysis scripts. No reports were replication studies. Ninety-four percent of reports provided a funding source statement and eighty-eight percent of reports provided a conflict of interest statement.Conclusions: Open data, materials, analysis and replications are rare in smoking behaviour change interventions, whereas funding source and conflict of interest declarations are common. Future smoking research should be more reproducible to enable knowledge accumulation.