LibGuides: Research: Clinical Research

Clinical Research

Clinical research is medical research that involves people to test new treatments and therapies.

A Clinical Trail (also called Interventional Study), is slightly different and is defined by ClinicalTrails.gov as:

A type of clinical study in which participants are assigned to groups that receive one or more intervention/treatment (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes. The assignments are determined by the study's protocol. Participants may receive diagnostic, therapeutic, or other types of interventions.

Library Users who want to design and run a clinical research study might find the resources below helpful.

Below are some great resources from across the web you might find useful!

These websites can help you design studies involving human subjects and ensure that your project is following current best practices.

10 Simple Rules for Good Research Practice
This article published in PLoS Computational Biology in 2022 describes how to plan a research study.
(citation below)

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Schwab S, Janiaud P, Dayan M, Amrhein V, Panczak R, Palagi PM, Hemkens LG, Ramon M, Rothen N, Senn S, Furrer E, Held L. Ten simple rules for good research practice. PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Jun 23;18(6):e1010139. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010139. PMID: 35737655; PMCID: PMC9223329.
Conducting Research Through an Anti-Racism Lens
Use this University of Minnesota Library LibGuide to learn how to conduct research through an anti-racism lens.
Human Research Protection Training
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has this website on Human Research Protection Training.
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus
This website is a great place to learn how to use MeSH terms to build better searches. You can also look up terms and see the hierarchy where your terms appear.
National Institution of Health
The U.S. National Institution of Health has a page of resources on Clinical Research that you should check out.
Office of Research Integrity Research Clinic
From the website: "The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) present The Research Clinic. The interactive training video educates clinical and social researchers on the importance of appropriately protecting research participants and avoiding research misconduct. The Research Clinic allows the viewer to assume the role of one of four characters and determines the outcome of the storyline by selecting decision-making choices for each “playable” character."
Planning a Clinical Research Study
This 2007 open access article in the Indian Journal of Orthopaedics walks you through the design and planning of a clinical study.
Systematic Reviews
The University of Kentucky Library has a great LibGuide to help you get started on a systematic review. Includes video and step-by-step guides!

IRB Exemption

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews your study to ensure that all ethical standards are met and study participants' rights and welfare are protected.

Is your study non-invasive? Use the SCO IRB Exemption Application to cover your bases!

SCO IRB Exemption Application
This link will take you to SCO's IRB Exemption Application in Microsoft Forms. You will have to login using your SCO email credentials.