How to Obtain Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are first published in a peer-reviewed journal, so that other scientists can analyze and critique the data. Trials may also be posted on manufacturer's websites, a clinical trial database or a centralized databases such as Pubmed.com. While you need to pay for some resources such as journals, others, like the trials published on a manufacturer's website, are free.

Things You'll Need

• Name of company
• Details of the trial

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Instructions

• 1

  Collate the details of the specific trial you are looking for. You need the name of the company that performed the trial, the rough date the trial was performed and the parameters of the trial itself such as which drug the company tested.

• 2

  Search for the trial on the website of the company that performed it. Some companies post trial results on their website, or post direct links to databases where you can find the trial. You can generally find this information under the research and development page.

• 3

  Search for the trial on clinicalstudyresults.org. Companies can choose to sign up on this database and post their full trials or summaries of their trials for easy reference.

• 4

  Enter your country on the homepage. Using the search criteria boxes, enter the details of the trial you are looking for. For example, if it's a drug trial on Zoloft, enter Zoloft and click on search. Alternatively you can search by manufacturer and disease, or by protocol number. Then choose the study you wish to look at under the "Clinical Study Summary" section. The protocol number is useful to narrow down the results of a specific drug search. Click on the "Full Text" or "Details" link. Click on the Protocol PDF icon on the bottom of the page. This opens up the synopsis or the full text of the clinical trial.

• 5

  Search for the full text of the clinical trial in medical journals. Trials are first published in peer-reviewed journals such as "Clinical Trials," the Journal of the Society for Clinical Trials. Most journals are subscription-based, which you must pay for annually. However, some articles are available for free.

• 6

  Search for free clinical trials published in journals on Pubmed.com, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Pubmed is a repository of health-care and biological scientific papers including clinical trials. From the homepage, enter the trial detail such as "Zoloft" and the word "Free" in the search section. Filter your results by clicking on the "Free Full Text" link on the right-hand side of the page. The resulting articles are all available for no charge.