Table 1.

Benefits of access to trial protocols: who, when, and why

Who	When	Why
Study participants	Before enrolment	Informed consent
Research ethics committees	Before enrolment	Ethical review and oversight from trial inception through to reporting
Funding agencies	Before enrolment	Scientific review and oversight from trial inception through to reporting
Systematic reviewers	After trial inception	Awareness of ongoing, unpublished, and published studies; oversight of accurate trial reporting in publications; detailed quality assessment
External reviewers	After trial inception	Monitoring of ongoing trials and dissemination of results; oversight of accurate reporting in publications; detailed quality assessment
Journal editors and peer reviewers	Before publication	Oversight of accurate reporting in submitted publications; detailed quality assessment
Health regulatory agencies	Before regulatory approval	Oversight of accurate reporting of submitted trial data; detailed quality assessment