Important information from ICMJE for colleagues involved with clinical trials

Transfusion Medicine colleagues involved with Clinical Trials need to be aware of a new "standard" (though not a regulation or law) set by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) regarding registration of clinical trials for publication. The ICMJE has stated that they "will consider a trial for publication only if it has been registered before the enrollment of the first patient." Furthermore, the journal editors have specified deadlines for compliance with this policy. Failure to properly register a trial could preclude future publication of the results of those trials in major medical journals.

The site for registration is www.ClinicalTrials.gov.

For additional information, please see:

• ClinicalTrials.gov: How to register trials with ClinicalTrials.gov

• Frequently Asked Questions

• Search for Clinical Trials by word or phrase, such as the name of a medical condition or intervention

• Journal Editors: Clinical Trial Registration (September 2004)