The opening paragraph of a recent article in The Economist (The sounds of silence.  Sep 9th 2004) sums up the problem of not registering trials:

"SOMETIMES, no news is news. In clinical trials, where new medical treatments are tried out on human subjects, no news—an inconclusive result, indicating that the treatment is useless, or a negative one, indicating that it is harmful—can be as scientifically important as a positive result. Unfortunately, such a result is much less likely to be reported."

Not reporting the results of randomised controlled trials is increasingly seen as scientific and ethical misconduct, and the pressure to register trials to reduce biased under-reporting is growing.  Legislation in some countries now requires registration of trials, while some funding agencies and official bodies recommend it.   By registering a trial you will:

• Bring your trials to a wider audience
• Support the drive for greater openness
• Lead the way, before legislation demands it
• Add to the body of knowledge available to patients, researchers, funders, and policy makers.
  

One way of registering a trial is to use the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) scheme.   More details of this scheme, together with other resources, are available from the menu to the left of this page.