BU Research Blog

February 22, 2019

Research transparency – HRA response to the Science and Technology Committee

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, Research communication, Research Ethics, research integrity, Research news Suzy Wignall

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee released a report last year on clinical trials transparency, as it was evident that a nearly half of clinical trials fail to publish their results. In their report, the committee made a number of recommendations to the Health Research Authority in order to rectify the situation.

At the time the HRA issued a response but today have published a further statement which sets out their commitment to research transparency. This is especially pertinent given the article published simultaneously in BMJ Open, which details the numbers of clinical trials that are publicly registered, compared with those that have received favourable opinion (approval) from a UK NHS research ethics committee.

BU has access to the ClinicalTrials.gov system so get in touch if you would like access. This is a great opportunity to register your study and study results in the public domain. It is free to register your study.
Despite the name, the system may be used for other clinical research projects.

February 1, 2019

Medical research: articles/blogs of interest

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, Research communication, Research Ethics, research integrity, Research news Suzy Wignall

A medical ethicists explores the need to temper researchers’ enthusiasm when it comes to presenting the benefits of a treatment, and how important it is to distinguish research from a treatment.

Read the full article here.

Six project management tips for a PhD – Whatever kind of large research project you are doing, these tips from the private sector might be of some use.

Read the full article here.

#DataSavesLives—Patient participation ensures data are accurate and useful – In this blog, the author argues that we must not ignore the benefits that sharing patient data can have on quality in healthcare

Read the full blog post here.

January 22, 2019

Health Research Authority public involvement guidance

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, Research communication, Research Ethics, research integrity Suzy Wignall

Involving patients and/or the public in your clinical research is a great way to ensure that your study is designed and set-up in a way that will be attractive to participants.
This can also help to avoid any setbacks once the project is underway – e.g. scheduling research clinics at 08:30 in the morning at the hospital, when the majority of your participants can’t use their bus pass until 9 o’clock! You may find that recruitment is slow and you will have higher rates of non-compliance.

The Health Research Authority (HRA) released guidance last year to help applicants better identify where they have involved the public in their research applications, and the difference that made to their studies. The guidance sets out how applicants should present their information on public involvement within the Integrated Research Application System (IRAS) in a way that is most useful to Research Ethics Committees (RECs).

Further to this, the HRA have released two blog posts (the 3rd to be released next month) that follow the journey of a Research Fellow at the University of Surrey. Having used this new guidance, the first blog post looks into her thoughts on the advice and how it helped her to achieve success.

The second blog post involves discussion had with two members of the public that the Research Fellow worked with, to find out what it’s like to be involved in research.

Watch this space for the third blog post, and remember that support is on offer at BU if you are thinking of introducing your research ideas into the NHS – email the Research Ethics mailbox, and take a look at the Clinical Governance blog.

November 5, 2018

Failing to publish data from clinical trials presents risk to human health

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, NHS, open access, Publishing, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, research integrity, Research news Suzy Wignall

A recent inquiry into research integrity was made earlier this year by the Science and Technology Committee, which revealed that nearly half of clinical trials fail to publish their results.

This lack of publishing has been deemed a risk to human health and a contributory factor in research wastage.

The article gives examples of a number of studies that are yet to be published, and how this activity ‘threaten(s) research integrity, and in some cases, endanger(s) human life’. The full article can be found here.

The University has administrative access to the ClinicalTrials.gov system – get in touch with us if you are conducting clinical research, to ensure that you have access.

Category / research integrity

Research transparency – HRA response to the Science and Technology Committee

Medical research: articles/blogs of interest

Health Research Authority public involvement guidance

Failing to publish data from clinical trials presents risk to human health

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