Revelations from clinical research have very often been at the cynosure of controversy because of its possible ethical and legal ramifications. In recent years, there is increasing pressure on academia to develop links with industry and to pursue work of possible commercial value.

The ethical ramifications include recruitment practices for clinical trials, possible societal impact of the publication of clinical trial data and the possible drift or shift in the process of research of competitors.

Every pharmaceutical major has its own doctrine of publication policy which covers the company's intent to publish the results as a multi-author, multi-centre trial. Over the past few years, scientific journals and government regulators have increased the scrutiny and expectations facing pharmaceutical companies looking to publish the results of their clinical trials. While picking and choosing favorable findings may have been acceptable a decade ago it is now considered unethical and potentially illegal. As a result of these changing expectations and regulations, global publications leaders at pharmaceutical companies are carefully building strategy that ethically presents all study findings while still driving brand strength.

It is thus interesting to note the process as to how pharmaceutical and biotechnology majors are shaping their global publications strategies and plans in order to maintain scientific credibility while also delivering commercially relevant publications that drive brand success.

To get an idea of the process behind the publication of important clinical trial results ready benchmark reports of the same are available which cover key topics such as global publications structure and functional home (medical vs. marketing), key contributors and stakeholders in strategy development and plan delivery, effective publications vehicles, content and audiences, using alternative media, planning for neutral/negative results, changes in resources and outsourcing, performance measuring and the next strategic steps.

It goes without saying that half-baked benchmarking reports will not be able to provide the in-depth detailed analysis, findings and insights from the clinical research publication process. Benchmarked reports for the clinical trial publication best practices must contain critical performance metrics and process insights from leading pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies throughout globe.

Benchmark reports are a comprehensive source of information as they contain information from surveys and qualitative interviews with pharmaceutical and biotechnology Global Publication Strategy executives. These benchmark reports are a good way to get around knowing the publication processes in the clinical research industry.

Kirthy Shetty, Expert Author. More on Benchmarking, Clinical Trials