Medical Editors Trial Amnesty

Abstract

Reports of properly conducted randomised controlled trials are the foundation of safe and effective health care. However, a substantial proportion of all controlled trials never contribute to this knowledge base because they are not submitted for publication. 1 Dickersin K Min YI NIH clinical trials and publication bias. On-line J Curr Clin Trials[serial on-line]. 1993; (Apr 28: Doc No 50) Google Scholar , 2 Easterbrook PJ Berlin JA Gopalan R Matthews DR Publication bias in clinical research. Lancet. 1991; 337: 867-872 Summary PubMed Scopus (2262) Google Scholar This fact has several important implications for patient care. First, underreporting of trials reduces the power of systematic reviews to detect moderate but clinically important treatment effects. As a result, patients may be denied effective forms of health care. Second, since trials that show more promising treatment effects are more likely to be submitted for publication, research syntheses based on published studies can give misleading conclusions about treatment effectiveness, thus exposing patients to useless or even harmful therapies. 3 Egger M Davey Smith G Misleading meta-analysis. BMJ. 1995; 310: 752-754 Crossref PubMed Scopus (317) Google Scholar Finally, patients may be asked to participate in new research studies designed to address questions that have, in truth, already been answered. 4 Savulescu J Chalmers I Blunt J Are research ethics committees behaving unethically? Some suggestions for improving performance and accountability. BMJ. 1996; 313: 1390-1393 Crossref PubMed Scopus (151) Google Scholar