Overcome failure to Publish nEgative fiNdings (OPEN)
Overcome failure to Publish nEgative fiNdings
(OPEN)
Start date: Nov 1, 2011,
End date: Oct 31, 2013
PROJECT
FINISHED
Full information about completed and ongoing clinical trials is the indispensable base for decision making about medical therapies and diagnostic procedures by patients and doctors. Equally, researchers and research organisations, ethics boards, governments and health system agencies, courts for social justice, pharmaceutical companies and all professional groups of the health care system are dependent on unbiased information.Research projects have consistently shown that for approximately 50% of all launched trials results or reasons for their failure are never published. Not only pharmaceutical industry, but also researchers and their organisations, ethics boards and scientific journals are actively contributing to the general failure to come close to a 100% publication rate. An obvious reason is the complexity of the system as well as the limitation of resources, giving ample space for all stakeholders to avoid appropriate changes and draw attention to deficiencies outside their responsibility.This project is based on the assumption that the existence of broad publication bias with seriously harmful impact has been accepted by all stakeholders and does not require further evidence. The current knowledge on publication bias and its impact will be summarized by systematic reviews of the relevant literature, with emphasis on the situation in the EU.OPEN focuses on the investigation of attitudes and handling of stakeholders involved in the whole knowledge translation process. Surveys, case studies and analyses of policies to reduce publication bias will be conducted to describe the current views and practice of stakeholders who are involved in knowledge translation. These results will be brought together to describe the status quo. Based on those insights recommendations will be derived to reduce publication bias and thus foster the provision of relevant results from clinical trials to citizens and organisations in the EU.
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