Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2025 Apr 28;22(4):e1004588.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004588. eCollection 2025 Apr.

Improving transparency in clinical trial reporting

Alison Farrell  1 ; PLOS Medicine Editors
Affiliations
Comment

Improving transparency in clinical trial reporting

Alison Farrell et al. PLoS Med. .

Abstract

The power to interpret the results of randomised clinical trial results relies on transparent reporting of the study design, protocol, methods and analyses. Without such clarity, the benefits of the findings, to both healthcare, policy and research, cannot be realized in full. The publication of the updated CONSORT 2025 and SPIRIT 2025 statements for reporting of randomised clinical trials and protocols, respectively, offers the opportunity to reflect on the power that transparent reporting of clinical trial design and data offers to improve the quality of trials and outcomes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal’s policy and the author of this manuscript has the following competing interests: The author’s individual competing interests are at https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/s/staff-editors. PLOS is funded partly through manuscript publication charges, but the PLOS Medicine Editors are paid a fixed salary (their salaries are not linked to the number of papers published in the journal).

Comment on

  • CONSORT 2025 statement: Updated guideline for reporting randomised trials.
    Hopewell S, Chan AW, Collins GS, Hróbjartsson A, Moher D, Schulz KF, Tunn R, Aggarwal R, Berkwits M, Berlin JA, Bhandari N, Butcher NJ, Campbell MK, Chidebe RCW, Elbourne D, Farmer A, Fergusson DA, Golub RM, Goodman SN, Hoffmann TC, Ioannidis JPA, Kahan BC, Knowles RL, Lamb SE, Lewis S, Loder E, Offringa M, Ravaud P, Richards DP, Rockhold FW, Schriger DL, Siegried NL, Staniszewska S, Taylor RS, Thabane L, Torgerson D, Vohra S, White IR, Boutron I. Hopewell S, et al. PLoS Med. 2025 Apr 14;22(4):e1004587. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004587. eCollection 2025 Apr. PLoS Med. 2025. PMID: 40228477 Free PMC article.
  • SPIRIT 2025 statement: Updated guideline for protocols of randomised trials.
    Chan AW, Boutron I, Hopewell S, Moher D, Schulz KF, Collins GS, Tunn R, Aggarwal R, Berkwits M, Berlin JA, Bhandari N, Butcher NJ, Campbell MK, Chidebe RCW, Elbourne DR, Farmer AJ, Fergusson DA, Golub RM, Goodman SN, Hoffmann TC, Ioannidis JPA, Kahan BC, Knowles RL, Lamb SE, Lewis S, Loder E, Offringa M, Ravaud P, Richards DP, Rockhold FW, Schriger DL, Siegfried NL, Staniszewska S, Taylor RS, Thabane L, Torgerson DJ, Vohra S, White IR, Hróbjartsson A. Chan AW, et al. PLoS Med. 2025 Apr 28;22(4):e1004589. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004589. eCollection 2025 Apr. PLoS Med. 2025. PMID: 40294521 Free PMC article.

References

    1. Hopewell S, Chan A-W, Collins GS, Hróbartsson A, Moher D, Schulz KF, et al.. CONSORT 2025 statement: updated guideline for reporting randomised trials. PLOS Med. 2025;22(4). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chan A-W, Boutron I, Hopewell S, Moher D, Schulz KF, Collins GS, et al.. SPIRIT 2025 statement: updated guideline for protocols of randomised trial. PLOS Med. 2025;22(4). - PubMed
    1. Serghiou S, Contopoulos-Ioannidis DG, Boyack KW, Riedel N, Wallach JD, Ioannidis JPA. Assessment of transparency indicators across the biomedical literature: How open is open? PLoS Biol. 2021;19(3):e3001107. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001107 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nicholls SG, Campbell MK. Embedding patient and health care professional voices in clinical trials. JAMA. 2024;332(5):365–6. doi: 10.1001/jama.2024.6314 - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms