Item 1a: Identification as a randomised trial

Example

​

“Efficacy and Safety of Early Administration of 4-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate in Patients With Trauma at Risk of Massive Transfusion: The PROCOAG Randomized Clinical Trial”[25].

Explanation

​

The ability to identify a report of a randomised trial in a bibliographic database depends to a large extent on how it was indexed. Indexers might not classify a report as a randomised trial if the authors do not explicitly report this information [26]. To help ensure that a study is appropriately indexed and easily identified, authors should use the word “randomised” in the title to indicate that the participants were randomly assigned to their comparison groups.