A Question of Quality

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)1 announced in 2004 that data from clinical trials could only be considered for publication if a trial had been registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, the United States registry for clinical trials that was started in 2000. The ICMJE said the registration deadline was September 13, 2005.2 An analysis of registrations between May 20 and Oct. 11, 2005 found that publication is a powerful incentive to fill out paperwork,3 with universities demonstrating the most dramatic surge in predeadline registration efforts. The 73% increase in registrations over the interval was associated with a nearly 200% increase in the number of data providers around the world (the site began including international trials in the fall of 2004).

But how meaningful is the information? According to the report card, data providers got better at reporting specific useful information on the registry even in the time between May and ...