The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Catalog was searched on July 16, 2012 using the search string "India [country of publication] AND currently indexed." A list of 48 journals was retrieved and each journal was manually reviewed. Eight journals published by India-based publisher(s) but not having editorial office in India were excluded. Nine more journals were excluded because they primarily do not publish clinical trials. One journal had to be excluded as neither its website nor the print version could be located. Thirty journals were included in the final analysis. The ‘instructions for authors’ were downloaded from the website/online issues of the journals and were reviewed independently by each author. In case of disagreement, final decision was reached by consensus.

Nine journals (30%) required clinical trial registration number (CTRN) compulsorily for submission. This includes two journals, which did not mention explicitly about CTRN, but required authors to complete the CONSORT checklist. Journals which required compliance to CONSORT Statement but did not require submission of CONSORT checklist were considered not compulsorily requiring CTRN submission. One journal which mandatorily required registration of trials but did not ask for submission of CTRN was also marked in negation. One journal stated that registration is ‘desirable’ but did not specifically require submission of CTRN. 7 (23.3%) journals mentioned the name of at least one eligible clinical trial registry.

TABLE I	Association of Encouragement of CONSORT Adherence with CTRN Requirement

16 (53.33%) journals (including two journals which required the submission of CONSORT checklist) encouraged authors to adhere to the CONSORT Statement. 7 (23.3%) journals encouraged adherence to the CONSORT statement but did not specifically require submission of CTRN or the CONSORT checklist. One journal which required compulsory trial registration did not mention CONSORT Statement. 22 (73.3%) journals mentioned ICMJE guidelines. Journals which encouraged CONSORT Statement adherence were more likely to require trial registration number for submission.

Out of the 11 signatories to the ‘Statement on publishing clinical trials in Indian biomedical journals’ [7], 9 journals were included in the present study (the other two were not currently indexed for MEDLINE). 4 journals (44.44%) required CTRN mandatorily for submission. One journal mentioned registration to be mandatory but did not mention about submission of CTRN. 6 journals (66.67%) encouraged adherence to the CONSORT Statement.

30% of the journals in our study mandatorily required CTRN. In a 2008 international survey [8], 37% of journals mentioned about clinical trial registration while 26.7% required registration as a prerequisite for submission. 53.3% of journals in the present study mentioned about the CONSORT statement compared to 38% in the 2008 study [8].

The present study is limited by the fact that it includes only Indian journals which are currently indexed for MEDLINE. The present study highlights that a majority of the journals are yet to adapt their editorial policies with regard to the issue of clinical trial registration.

Contributors: Authors contributed equally to the work.

Funding: None: Competing interests: SB has previously held a paid medical subeditor position a medical journal. Currently, SB is the resident editor of a journal published by Indian Medical Association, and also serves in the editorial board of another non-Indian medical journal. TB has no financial conflicts of interest but he has served in editorial board of a student medical journal, and has been a reviewer for multiple medical journals. He has no association with any of the journals included in this study.

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