As access to the Current Controlled Trials site is free, how is it funded?
A. The Current Controlled Trials website was initially funded by the Science Navigation Group for four years. Current Controlled Trials is committed to providing free and open access to information about ongoing randomised controlled trials, and this remains the guiding principle behind the company’s activities. Following the failure of the company’s 2001/2002 bid for three years’ funding from the European Union, Current Controlled Trials decided it must look to trial sponsors and other register-holders to support the effort to provide information on ongoing trials free to the user. Current Controlled Trials continues to explore other sources of income, including building and maintaining registers for outside organisations. From October 2002, organisations wishing to include their register in the metaRegister of Controlled Trials have been asked to contribute to the costs of processing, indexing and displaying the information and ensuring it is available free to the user. From 2003 an
