Biomedical Research in Developing Countries - UNICRI

Algiers
Declaration
2008
Ministerial
Conference on
Research for
Health in the
African Region
In preparation for the Bamako Meeting in
November, the African Conference
adopted the Algiers Declaration, which
commits countries in the Region to work
together to strengthen national health
research, information and knowledge
systems through the optimization of
investments, better co-ordination and
enhanced management in order to improve
the health of the people of Africa. The
ethical conduct and evaluation of research
is also a strong point of the Declaration.
The Ministers called on the World Health
Organization (WHO) to establish an
African Health Research, Information and
Knowledge Systems Observatory.
PUBLICATION ETHICS
Editors of scientific journals have a responsibility in the way clinical trials results
are submitted for publishing. That is why we included, in this chapter, a description
of all the initiatives that have been implemented by publishing editors to ensure the
respect of the good practices in the reporting of clinical trials, so as to avoid the
publication of unethical or scientifically unsound results.
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
The ICMJE released the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to
Biomedical Journals in 1997 in an attempt to promote and systematize the good
practices when submitting a manuscript for publication in scientific journals. The
Uniform Requirements were subsequently revised in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004.
In 2004, in order to foster a “comprehensive, publicly available database of clinical
trials 30 ” the ICMJE mandated that clinical trials would be considered for publication
in its member journals 31 only if registered in one of the five ICMJE approved
registries, before the enrollment of the first patient, starting from July 1, 2005. 32
Initial opposition by researchers and sponsors that registration would complicate
30 De Angelis C., Drazen J.M., Frizelle F.A., et al. Clinical trial registration: a statement from the International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Lancet. 2004; 364:911-2
31 Currently, the ICMJE member journals are: Annals of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal, Canadian
Medical Association Journal, Croatian Medical Journal, JAMA, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, New
England Journal of Medicine, New Zealand Medical Journal, The Lancet, The Medical Journal of
Australia,Tidsskrift for Den Norske Llegeforening, and Ugeskrift for Laeger. However, more and more journals
include in their selection criteria for publication the ICMJE Uniform Requirements , including data on registration
of clinical trials.
32 The ICMJE accepted registries are: www.actr.org.au; www.clinicaltrials.gov; www.ISRCTN.org;
www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm; www.trialregister.nl
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