Re: All trials must be registered and the results published
An impressive 98% of studies funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Health Technology Assessment programme are published. Such a high figure has been attributed to two measures. Firstly, all investigators are contractually obliged to submit a report for peer review and publication in the Health Technology Assessment journal. Secondly, this is enforced by withholding a portion of funding until after report submission.
To put this into context with other research funding bodies, the BMJ contacted the Medical Research Council and the three largest medical charities that support research – the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK, and the British Heart Foundation.
They all kindly responded and acknowledge that future publication is not a mandatory requirement for receiving funding, although they have other procedures in place. Funders reported that a major difficulty was tracking publications long after a trial has finished, and that this is now being addressed with the use of online registers.
The British Heart Foundation already requires all trials to be registered with the UKCRN, requests annual reports from studies, and is also actively considering a formal mechanism to incentivise publication, such as withholding of payment.
Cancer Research UK requires clinical trials to be registered on ISCTRN or clinicaltrials.gov, and also tries to provide a lay summary of results from all funded trials on its own website.
The Medical Research Council states in its guidance that “The findings of MRC-funded research must be made available to the research community and the public, in a timely manner.”[1] It also helped to set up ResearchFish with other funders to collect information on the outcomes of research.
Finally, the Wellcome Trust requests that all randomised controlled trials be registered. It also retains 10% of grant funding until an end-of-grant report is submitted. Publication is encouraged but not necessary.
Encouraging steps have been taken by research funders in recent years, and hopefully the example of the Health Technology Assessment can inspire further progress.
Competing interests:
I am a clinical fellow at the BMJ. I have also previously conducted research funded by the NIHR, the Wellcome Trust, and other medical charities.
Rapid Response:
Re: All trials must be registered and the results published
An impressive 98% of studies funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Health Technology Assessment programme are published. Such a high figure has been attributed to two measures. Firstly, all investigators are contractually obliged to submit a report for peer review and publication in the Health Technology Assessment journal. Secondly, this is enforced by withholding a portion of funding until after report submission.
To put this into context with other research funding bodies, the BMJ contacted the Medical Research Council and the three largest medical charities that support research – the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK, and the British Heart Foundation.
They all kindly responded and acknowledge that future publication is not a mandatory requirement for receiving funding, although they have other procedures in place. Funders reported that a major difficulty was tracking publications long after a trial has finished, and that this is now being addressed with the use of online registers.
The British Heart Foundation already requires all trials to be registered with the UKCRN, requests annual reports from studies, and is also actively considering a formal mechanism to incentivise publication, such as withholding of payment.
Cancer Research UK requires clinical trials to be registered on ISCTRN or clinicaltrials.gov, and also tries to provide a lay summary of results from all funded trials on its own website.
The Medical Research Council states in its guidance that “The findings of MRC-funded research must be made available to the research community and the public, in a timely manner.”[1] It also helped to set up ResearchFish with other funders to collect information on the outcomes of research.
Finally, the Wellcome Trust requests that all randomised controlled trials be registered. It also retains 10% of grant funding until an end-of-grant report is submitted. Publication is encouraged but not necessary.
Encouraging steps have been taken by research funders in recent years, and hopefully the example of the Health Technology Assessment can inspire further progress.
1. Medical Research Council. Good research practice: Principles and guidelines. July 2012. Available at: http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Utilities/Documentrecord/MRC002415
Competing interests: I am a clinical fellow at the BMJ. I have also previously conducted research funded by the NIHR, the Wellcome Trust, and other medical charities.