New paper | A guide to searching clinical trials registers
Systematic reviews bring together existing evidence to answer specific research questions. Knowing how to find and include all the relevant evidence is important to reduce bias and research waste and increase the reliability of results.
PhD candidate Kylie Hunter and Dr Lene Seidler recently published a Research Methods and Reporting paper in the prestigious British Medical Journal to guide researchers on the innovative use of trial registries.
As part of the TOPCHILD collaboration, Kylie and Lene are conducting a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of trials evaluating behavioural interventions for the early prevention of obesity in children. This new guidance paper utilised their learnings and experiences from the ongoing TOPCHILD study to illustrate best practices in searching clinical trials registers. The article provides the steps and key recommendations on where to search, how to formulate search strategies, efficient screening methods, and reporting searches.
Read the full paper here
Reference Searching clinical trials registers: guide for systematic reviewers