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A technical review of three clinical trials register resources indicates where improvements to the search interfaces are needed
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Cooper, Chris, Court, Rachel A., Kotas, Eleanor and Schauberger, Ute (2021) A technical review of three clinical trials register resources indicates where improvements to the search interfaces are needed. Research Synthesis Methods, 12 (3). pp. 384-393. doi:10.1002/jrsm.1477 ISSN 1759-2879.
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WRAP-technical-review-three-clinical-trials-register-resources-indicates-improvements-search-interfaces-needed-Court-2021.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (2186Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1477
Abstract
Clinical trials registers form an important part of the search for studies in systematic reviews of intervention effectiveness but the search interfaces and functionality of registers can be challenging to search systematically and resource intensive to search well.
We report a technical review of the search interfaces of three leading trials register resources: ClinicalTrials.gov, the EU Clinical Trials Register and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registers Platform. The technical review used a validated checklist to identify areas where the search interfaces of these trials register resources performed well, where performance was adequate, where performance was poor, and to identify differences between search interfaces.
The review found low overall scores for each of the interfaces (ClinicalTrials.gov 55/165, the EU Clinical Trials Register 25/165, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registers Platform 32/165). This finding suggests a need for joined‐up dialogue between the producers of the registers and researchers who search them via these interfaces. We also set out a series of four proposed changes which might improve the search interfaces.
Trials registers are an invaluable resource in systematic reviews of intervention effectiveness. With the continued growth in systematic reviews, and initiatives such as ‘AllTrials’, there is an anticipated need for these resources. We conclude that small changes to the search interfaces, and improved dialogue with providers, might improve the future search functionality of these valuable resources.
Item Type: | Journal Article | |||||||||
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Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) | |||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Clinical trials, Clinical trials -- Data processing, Clinical trials -- Reporting | |||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Research Synthesis Methods | |||||||||
Publisher: | Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. | |||||||||
ISSN: | 1759-2879 | |||||||||
Official Date: | 4 May 2021 | |||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 12 | |||||||||
Number: | 3 | |||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 384-393 | |||||||||
DOI: | 10.1002/jrsm.1477 | |||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | |||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | |||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Cooper, C., Court, R., Kotas, E. and Schauberger, U. (2021), A technical review of three clinical trials register resources indicates where improvements to the search interfaces are needed. Res Syn Meth. Accepted Author Manuscript. , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1477. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. | |||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | |||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 16 February 2021 | |||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 8 February 2022 | |||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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Is Part Of: | 1 |
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