House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, November 2018
Selective non-publication of the results of research distorts the published evidence base and is a threat to research integrity. In the case of clinical trials, non-publication of results means that information on the efficacy of new drugs or other medical interventions cannot be used. Falling short on ‘clinical trials transparency’ in this way presents risks to human health, contributes to research wastage and means that clinical decisions are made without access to all the available evidence.
A range of UK and EU rules and guidelines are now in force to improve clinical trials transparency, in terms of tackling non-registration, non-reporting and mis-reporting. However, despite these rules, around half of clinical trials are currently left unreported, clinical trial registration is not yet universal in the UK, and reported outcomes do not always align with the original study proposal.
Click here to view the full report.
Skip to content