NHS research authority links approval of trials to registration and publication of results

Campaigners for transparency of all clinical trial data have welcomed plans set out by the body that oversees research standards in the NHS for the registration of trials and the publication of their results.

The new commitments from the NHS Health Research Authority follow a meeting of stakeholders held on 25 April.1 The proposals include granting ethics approval for clinical trials from September 2013 only to researchers who have agreed a timeframe to register their trial.

The authority was set up in December 2011 to promote and protect the interests of patients in health research. It has said that it would …