Clinical Trials
This guide summarises the resources available to help users find published and ongoing clinical trials.
Library News and Events
Information about Library news, training, events and service updates.
Useful Resources
Databases
AllTrials: A website that calls for all past and present clinical trials to be registered and their full methods and summary results reported.
Cochrane CENTRAL (Central register of Controlled Trials): This resource has details from bibliographic databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE etc. Each Cochrane Review Group maintains a collection of controlled trials relevant to its own area. N.B Choose "Trials- Advanced search only".
Medline: An essential resource covering research, clinical practice, administration, policy and healthcare services. N.B Filter for Clinical Trails by using the "Additional Limits" filter of "Publication Type" and choose "Clinical Trials".
Embase: Covering pharmacology, medicine and biomedical literature this major databases is an essential during the course. N.B Filter for Clinical Trails by using the "Additional Limits" for "Clinical Trials".
PsycINFO: Contains materials from the fields of psychiatry, psychology and psychological related disciplines. N.B Filter for Clinical Trails by using the "Additional Limits" filter of "Publication Type" and choose "Clinical Trials".
CINAHL Plus: Covers nursing, allied health, biomedicine, behavioural science, education and consumer health. Filter for Clinical Trails by using the "Additional Limits" filter of "Publication Type" and choose "Clinical Trials".
Freely available web databases- National:
UK Clinical Research Study Portfolio: Studies considered eligible for inclusion by the four UK Health Administrations using the Clinical Research Network. The coverage is not clear.
UK Clinical Trials Gateway: This resource has information about ongoing trials. Established by the National Institute for Health Research on behalf of all the UK Health Departments and with the assistance of a number of clinical research charities, research professionals and patient representatives. Coverage relates to existing trials but includes not recruiting, completed and stopped.
ClinicalTrials.gov: This is from the U.S. National Institutes of Health information. Adverse event information required was from September 2009. The coverage is from 2008 but some studies entered pre-date that.
Freely available web databases - International:
CenterWatch Clinical Trials Listing Service: Industry-sponsored clinical trials information for researchers and patients. The coverage is from 1994 onwards.
Current Controlled Trials: Springer-BioMedCentral's database of trials registered with International Standard RCT Number and for “across multiple registers”. Select “All registers” (left menu in “across multiple registers “search) to see archive trial sources. Coverage is from 1998 onwards.
European Clinical Trials Database: Information on clinical trials in European Union (EU) member states and the European Economic Area (EEA) and clinical trials which are conducted outside the EU/EEA if they form part of a paediatric investigation plan (PIP). Coverage is 2004 onwards.
PROSPERO: International prospective register of systematic reviews: Access is freely available and contains protocol details for systematic reviews relevant to health and social care, welfare, public health, education, crime, justice, and international development, where there is a health related outcome. Systematic review protocols on PROSPERO can include any type of any study design. Reviews of reviews and reviews of methodological issues that contain at least one outcome of direct patient or clinical relevance are also accepted. The site is produced by CRD and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
WHO’s Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal: Contains trial registration data sets provided by registries from around the world, incl Africa, China and India as well as Australia & New Zealand, Europe and the USA. Coverage is from the mid-1990s onwards.
Pharmaceutical Company Information:
Pharmaceutical companies may make information about trials available:
International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) members.
Finding Resources
Use DiscoverEd to find the resources you need. Use DiscoverEd to explore the:
- online resources
- physical resources
- special repositories
Your EASE password gives you access to your library account.
Need help searching DiscoverEd? Have a look at the help pages and FAQs.
Contact
If you have any queries regarding resources or require help and training in using some of these resources please contact:
Found a resource that's unavailable?
Use Inter-Library Loans and Intra-Library Loans to have resources (digital and hardcopies) delivered from other campuses and other libraries around the world.
Can't find a book you need for your studies?
Use the Request a Book service to tell us and we will try and buy it for the library.