“Get to it!” Clinical data sharing: Myth-busting and strategy

On 5 July Cochrane Pregnancy & Childbirth and the UK Data Service held a half-day workshop aimed at demystifying some of the conceptions and misconceptions around sharing and archiving data derived from academically run clinical trials. There is no proposal to share any personal data without appropriate security, as outlined below. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss and identify situations where it might be appropriate to share data and how best practice would make this process secure and safe. On behalf of the UK Data Service, Louise has led discussions with a range of interest groups and policymakers on the practicalities of archiving and sharing data from completed clinical trials. The conversations address calls from funders to improve data sharing of research they have supported and requests from the clinical trials community for practical steps that can be taken to safely archive data.