The mission of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform is to ensure that a complete view of research is accessible to all those involved in health care decision making. This will improve research transparency and will ultimately strengthen the validity and value of the scientific evidence base.

The registration of all interventional trials is a scientific, ethical and moral responsibility.

For the purposes of registration, a clinical trial is any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes. Clinical trials may also be referred to as interventional trials. Interventions include but are not restricted to drugs, cells and other biological products, surgical procedures, radiologic procedures, devices, behavioural treatments, process-of-care changes, preventive care, etc. This definition includes Phase I to Phase IV trials.

WHO regards trial registration as the publication of an  internationally-agreed set of information about the design, conduct and administration of clinical trials. These details are published on a publicly-accessible website managed by a registry conforming to WHO standards.

• Why is trial registration important?
• How to register a trial
• Organizations with policies on clinical trial registration
• What is the difference between a clinical trials register and registry?
• The Universal Trial Number (UTN)
• International Standards for Clinial Trial Registries
• Process for becoming a Primary Registry in the ICTRP Registry Network