UKRIO welcomes House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report on clinical trial transparency

The UK Research Integrity Office welcomes the report on clinical trial transparency, and the recommendations within it, published today by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee as part of its inquiry into research integrity.

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.’ We agree with the Committee that ‘selective non-publication of the results of research distorts the published evidence base and is a threat to research integrity.’

Our Code goes on to say that ‘organisations and researchers should accept their duty to publish and disseminate research in a manner that reports the research and all the findings of the research accurately and without selection that could be misleading’ and that clinical trials should appear on public registers. Codes and policies alone cannot bring about change, so UKRIO has also promoted and supported these messages through our practical advisory service, our education and training, and the other services we provide to the research community.

We recognise the need to do more in this area and strongly support the report’s conclusions. UKRIO is looking forward to working with the organisations named in the report, and with the wider research community, to help implement its recommendations.

 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

  1. The UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) is an independent charity, offering support to the public, researchers and organisations to further good practice in academic, scientific and medical research. We promote integrity and high ethical standards in research across all disciplines of research, from the arts and humanities to the life sciences, as well as robust and fair methods to address poor practice and misconduct. We do this through our publications on research practice, our support and services to organisations, our education and training activities, and by providing expert guidance in response to requests for assistance.
  2. On 30 October 2018, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee published its report on report on clinical trial transparency as part of its inquiry into research integrity. The research integrity inquiry explores the scope and impact of problems arising from mistakes, questionable behaviours and misconduct in research, and what might be done to address these issues. The clinical trial transparency report, along with further information on the inquiry into research integrity, is available on the Committee’s website.
  3. As part of the inquiry, Sir Bernard Silverman, Chair of UKRIO’s Trustees, and James Parry, Chief Executive of UKRIO, gave evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee in January 2018. A transcript of the session is available on the Committee’s website.
  4. For further information, please contact us.

 

A PDF version of this media release is available here.