Make it Public: what we've learned and what comes next

By Clive Collett, Head of Policy and Engagement

When we launched the Make it Public strategy in 2020, our vision was that trusted information from health and social care research studies is publicly available for the benefit of all.

The strategy covers the whole UK. We lead it with our partners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and work with others across the research system to make research transparency the norm.

Since then, the proportion of clinical trials registered publicly has reached its highest level (94% of clinical trials that received ethics approval in 2024) since we started measuring it.

But there is still work to do if we are to fully realise our vision.

We have learned a lot about where change is harder, what needs more attention, and how we can make transparency more useful for the people it is meant to serve.

We are now reviewing and refreshing the strategy, drawing on that learning and on the views of people who do research, take part in it or use its results.

This blog looks at progress since the strategy was launched, what we have learned and the five priorities that will guide the refresh. We will share opportunities to contribute as the work develops.

What has improved

One of the biggest changes has been in clinical trial registration. When Make it Public began, getting trials registered on a public registry, a website that lists clinical trials, was one of the main challenges we wanted to address.

Registering a trial before it starts lets anyone see what is planned, what question the trial is trying to answer and who is responsible for it.

It also creates the public record where the results should later appear and lets people check that the trial reported what it said it would measure.

That helps avoid waste. If studies are hidden, researchers may repeat work that is already happening, and people may be asked to take part in research that does not add new knowledge.

Of the 1,346 clinical trials that received ethics approval in 2024, 94% have given us a registration number and another 2% are in the process of registering. For trials of medicines, the figure is 98%. These figures tell us whether a trial is registered, but not whether it was registered before the first participant joined, which is when registration matters most.

Since January 2022, when a trial of a medicine applies for approval, we pass details from the application to the UK-based ISRCTN registry to start registering it. This saves researchers entering the same information twice. But the sponsor, the organisation responsible for the trial, such as a drug company, university or NHS trust, must still check and complete the record.