Search criteria/methodology

The criteria for the literature review were determined as follows using the setting population intervention comparison and evaluation (SPICE) approach:

Category	Response	Keywords
setting	pathology; healthcare	pathology, healthcare, medical
population	medical/scientifically capable readers	pathologists, oncologists, clinicians
intervention	format/layout	format, layout, design, configuration, user views, aesthetic, typography, legibility
comparison	compared with existing report formats	patient reports; pathology reports; cancer reports; medical reports
evaluation	speed to acquire information & accuracy/comprehension	readability, accuracy, speed, comprehension, communication , eye tracking, eye movement, cognitive psychology

A wide variety of PUBMed, SCIRUS, and GOOGLE search strategies were undertaken using the combinations of keywords above. Further review of likely sources of information was pursued from bibliography in the above searches.

In addition, specific review of bibliography in the following two articles was undertaken:

1. Valenstein PN (2008). Formatting pathology reports: applying four design principles to improve communication and patient safety. Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine 132(1):84–94.
2. Powsner SM, Costa J, Homer RJ. Clinicians are from Mars and pathologists are from Venus: clinician interpretation of pathology reports. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2000; 124:1040–1046.

Note: Non-English publications were excluded from this literature review.