The announcement this week that the BMJ will publish clinical trials only if the researchers have agreed to provide detailed patient level data when requested has been applauded by the drug firm GlaxoSmithKline.

Fiona Godlee, editor in chief of the BMJ, said in an editorial that the journal “will require this commitment for all clinical trials of drugs and devices—whether industry funded or not—from January 2013.”1

In response, Patrick Vallance, president of pharmaceuticals research and development at GSK, said: “GSK fully supports the commitment made today by BMJ to drive greater transparency of clinical trial data. Moves like this should help medical research by allowing scientists to …