Under the title “Analysis of non-prospective trial registration in clinical trials submitted to The BMJ: observational study”, the article explores compliance with the prospective registration of clinical trials submitted to the journal, a key requirement for ensuring transparency in biomedical research and preventing bias in the publication of results. The findings show that many studies are inadequately registered – e.g. they are not entered into a public database before the study begins – and that most are subsequently published in other high-impact journals without such irregularities being reported.

In response to these findings, the research group published the opinion piece “Taking the guesswork out of clinical trial registration information”, outlining specific measures to improve the reporting of clinical trial registration information. “The objective is for registration not to be seen as a mere administrative formality, but as a genuine scientific safeguard,” explains David Blanco de Tena-Dávila.

The recommendations have been very well received, and BMJ Group is currently working with the UIC Barcelona researchers to revise the key information on clinical trial registration required on its manuscript submission and management platform, as well as the format of journal abstracts. The goal of these strategies is to make it easier for editors and readers to clearly identify this information, enabling them to judge the credibility and transparency of the research for themselves.

The study also involved Aïda Cadellans, researcher from the Department of Physiotherapy at UIC Barcelona, along with collaborators from international institutions such as Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia (INEFC), the University of Vic and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.