The ISRCTN is a simple numeric system for the identification of randomised controlled clinical trials worldwide. The ISRCTN register will also accept registration of other forms of studies designed to assess the efficacy of healthcare interventions. The ISRCTN scheme simplifies the identification of trials and provides a unique number that can be used to track all publications and reports resulting from each trial. ISRCTN will be provided after completion of the ISRCTN application form. You are advised to read the ISRCTN FAQs, since these help to explain who should apply for an ISRCTN, which trials are eligible for an ISRCTN, at what stage, and so on.
The metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) is a pioneering response to the challenge of identifying ongoing and unpublished RCTs. The only international online register of RCTs open to trials of all types of intervention in all healthcare specialties, the mRCT has been built by pooling databases of ongoing (and some completed) trials from public, charitable and commercial organisations.
The ISRCTN scheme was conceived by an advisory group convened to address the difficulty of differentiating between trials. Confusion arises because different trials may have the same title, different titles may be applied to the same trial, and the titles of publications may frequently bear little resemblance to the original trial title. The solution offered is the creation of a unique numbering system for all RCTs, to simplify identification and provide a means of unambiguously tracking a trial throughout its life cycle - the ISRCTN.
Records of trials to which ISRCTNs have been assigned are available in the ISRCTN register.