Information for Medical Professionals

Clinical trial guidance issued by international journals

A number of clinical journals - including the British Medical Journal - have clubbed together and issued guidance on the reporting of clinical trials.

Recent research has shown that many studies are "well below an acceptable" level.

As a result, eight journals have issued a Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement which aims to improve the clarity of research published in 2010 and beyond.

It builds on the previous good-practice checklist offered by CONSORT, as well as adding new items to make it easier for decision makers to judge the validity of research results.

Commenting on the new guidelines, Kenneth Schulz, vice-president of Family Health International, said: "In the future we will further revise the CONSORT material considering comments, criticisms, experiences, and accumulating new evidence."

"We invite readers to submit recommendations," he added.

According to recent research published in Nature, animal trials inherently over-estimate the benefits of treatments because a large swathe of negative results go unpublished.

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