Trials, BioMed Central’s journal dedicated to exploring any aspect of the design, performance, and findings of
randomized controlled trials in  health care, has recently published a series of articles on Standardization of outcomes, the latest of the journal’s thematic series.

The series includes a review by Travis et al., which highlights the need for clear patient selection criteria and agreed definitions of disease remission in ulcerative colitis trials. This principle has successfully been applied in rheumatology, and is discussed in Tugwell et al.’s commentary, which also forms part of the series. Finally, Dr Mike Clarke provides an overview of the series in his commentary, and discusses the rationale for standardization initiatives in both clinical trials and systematic reviews. All of the articles are open access.

Commentary
   
Standardising outcomes for clinical trials and systematic reviews
Mike Clarke

Commentary
   
OMERACT: An international initiative to improve outcome measurement in rheumatology

Peter Tugwell, Maarten Boers, Peter Brooks, Lee Simon, Vibeke Strand, Leanne Idzerda

Review
   
Outcome measurement in clinical trials for ulcerative colitis: towards standardisation
Rachel M Cooney, Bryan F Warren, Douglas G Altman, Maria T Abreu, Simon PL Travis

Trials is overseen by Doug Altman (United Kingdom), Curt Furberg
(United States), Jeremy Grimshaw (Canada) and Peter Rothwell (United
Kingdom), the Editors-in-Chief, and an expert editorial board. If you would like more information on the journal, please contact the editorial office.

Iain Hrynaszkiewicz
In-house Editor, Trials