Table 1.

Steps taken to process the data

1a. Steps taken to process the data with each record representing one trial
Number	Processing step	Records selected	Records rejected	Table(s) with the details
1	Downloaded files	112,013		Additional file 3: Table S1
2	Selected trials with the start date between 1/1/2005 and 12/31/2014	79,838	32,175	Additional file 4: Table S2
3	Selected trials with “drug:” or “biological:” in the intervention field	64,496	15,342	Additional file 5: Table S3
4	Selected trials with a completion date or primary completion date	63,786	710	Additional file 6: Table S4 and Additional file 7: Table S5
5	Selected trials registered with a US authority	35,121	28,665	Additional file 8: Table S6 and Additional file 9: Table S7
6	Selected trials that listed both the investigator’s name and role	31,392	3729	Additional file 10: Table S8
7	Selected trials where the number of investigators’ names matched the number of their roles	31,375	17	Additional file 11: Table S9
1b. Steps taken to process the data, with each row in Additional file 12: Table S10 and Additional file 13: Table S11 representing one investigator
Number	Processing step	Names selected	Names rejected	Table(s) with the details
8	In trials where there were multiple names, separated them to create pairs of single names and their corresponding roles	71,359		Additional file 12: Table S10
9	Selected trials where the investigator’s name was that of a real individual	60,787	10,572*	Additional file 13: Table S11

*These 10,572 “names” came from 8907 NCT IDs