Clinical Trials

UKRIO research integrity webinar: Clinical Trials, Wednesday 14 October 2020 

In this webinar, the speakers addressed the complex issues surrounding transparent and timely reporting of results from clinical trials.

In 2019, the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee asked more than forty UK universities to ensure they were complying with clinical trials transparency requirements. UKRIO agrees with the Committee that ‘selective non-publication of the results of research distorts the published evidence base and is a threat to research integrity.’

UKRIO has promoted and supported transparency in research through our practical advisory service, our education and training, and the other services we provide to the research community. A key standard in our Code of Practice for Research is that ‘researchers have a duty to publish the findings of all clinical research involving human participants.’

Speakers:

    • Patricia Burns discussed how the University of Dundee approached the challenge of improving clinical trials transparency and reporting, including publishing results on public databases. Sharing her experiences and lessons learnt, she described the changing landscape of research in Dundee. Moving from the original rush of activity to upload results to evidence compliance, to the less frenetic but no less challenging situation of today, where the involvement of patients and public is building trust and creating a more transparent environment across all areas. Patricia Burn’s PowerPoint presentation can be found here along with the presentation recording below:

    • Dr. Birgit Whitman talked about clinical trial registration and reporting of results. HEIs are committed to transparency and public accountability and it is central to their mission to generate new knowledge through research. Despite best efforts, legacy issues can hinder the 100% upload of results. Expert support for investigators is essential to navigate the current registry requirements. Dr. Brigit’s PowerPoint presentation can be viewed by clicking here along with the presentation recording below:

  • Marc Taylor drew on experience with the registration and reporting of clinical trials to invite discussion of the oversight of health research in British universities. What conclusions should we draw from British academics’ preference for registration with ClinicalTrials.gov, and their poor record in reporting results? How should we view the many coronavirus studies reporting preliminary results on Medrxiv, and the very few reporting verified results to registries in the World Health Organization network? In the aftermath of the pandemic, will the governance of health research in British universities fit them to be world-beating? Marc Taylor’s PowerPoint presentation can be found here along with the recording below: