Publication and Dissemination of Results in Clinical Trials of Neurology

Result dissemination is important for scientific progress; however, 25% to 50% of clinical trials are not published.1,2 To increase dissemination, the National Library of Medicine established an online registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.This database contains over 224 000 trials 3 ; approximately 60% will supply results through the website 4 and 46% will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.4 This study sought to comprehensively classify neurology trials within ClinicalTrials.gov to compare publication rates as well as time to publication.Methods | An aggregate search was performed on July 19, 2016, through ClinicalTrials.gov,for closed interventional trials conducted within the United States between October 1, 2007, and July 1, 2014.The study was approved by the Yale School of Medicine Institutional Review Board.Using the search term nervous system disease, the search was refined to ensure that trials were conducted within the specified time to allow at least 2 years for potential dissemination.1,5 Subcategories were subsequently assigned and potential publications were identified.A systematic 3-step process similar to