Journal policy
Protocols, Registries and Unpublished Studies
Review protocols should be registered prospectively and searches should consider registries and unpublished or ongoing evidence where relevant.
Review protocol
- Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses, Umbrella Reviews, Scoping Reviews, Evidence Maps and Rapid Reviews require a public protocol or registration.
- PROSPERO should be used when eligible; OSF or another permanent public repository may be used otherwise.
- Registration should occur before formal screening or data extraction.
- The manuscript must report amendments and explain late or retrospective registration.
Study registries
ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO ICTRP and relevant specialist registries should be searched when they can identify ongoing, unpublished or selectively reported studies. Registry records should be reconciled with publications where feasible.
No primary trial submissions
This policy does not mean that GMR accepts new clinical trials. Registry searching is an evidence-synthesis method. The former Clinical Trial Registration page permanently redirects here.
Questions or concerns
Use the appropriate secure route when a matter requires a documented response.