ArticlePloS one2020
A multi-state model analysis of the time from ethical approval to publication of clinical research studies.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Time to publication for results of clinical trials.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Current Practices and a Novel Operational Framework for Planning Research on Digital Health Promotion Interventions From Development to Implementation: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Technological advances in preclinical meta-research.BMJ open science · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundResults of medical research should be made publicly available in a timely manner to enable patients and health professionals to make informed decisions about health issues. We aimed to apply a multi-state model to analyze the overall time needed to publish study results, and to examine predictors of the timing of transitions within the research process from study initiation through completion/discontinuation to eventual publication.
methodsUsing a newly developed multi-state model approach, we analysed the effect of different study-related factors on each of the transitions from study approval to eventual publication, using a data set of clinical studies approved by a German research ethics committee between 2000 and 2002.
resultsOf 917 approved studies, 806 were included in our analyses. About half of the clinical studies which began were subsequently published as full articles, and the median time from study approval to publication was 10 years. Differences across model states were apparent; several factors were predictive of the transition from study approval to completion, while funding source and collaboration were predictive of the transition from completion to publication.
conclusionsThe proposed multi-state model approach permits a more comprehensive analysis of time to publication than a simple examination of the transition from approval to publication, and thus the findings represent an advance on previous studies of this aspect of the research process.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.