ConductScience Journal

ConductScience Journal

Publishing with Purpose: How Clinical Research Drives Better Patient Outcomes

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Massachusetts General Hospital

Publishing

Clinical Research

23 April 2025

24 April 2025

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

As we open the second issue of The ConductScience Journal, I am honored to share a few reflections on a topic that lies at the heart of scientific advancement and patient care: clinical research. In the present era, medicine is evolving faster than ever, driven by genomic technologies, AI-powered diagnostics, and increasingly personalized therapies. Clinical research remains our most trusted instrument for validating and translating innovation into real-world outcomes. The fundamental goal of clinical research is simple yet profound: to improve the lives of patients. Whether through randomized trials or observational studies, clinical research revolutionizes evidence-based care and clinical guidelines and brings clarity where uncertainty once prevailed [1]Tunis SR, Stryer DB, Clancy CM. Practical clinical trials: increasing the value of clinical research for decision making in clinical and health policy. JAMA. 2003;290(12):1624–32. doi:10.1001/jama.290.12.1624.

And yet, while we recognize the significance of clinical research, its impact is often limited by how it is published and disseminated. In an environment flooded with static documents and siloed data, important findings may remain invisible to the clinicians, policymakers, and patients who need them most. This is a missed opportunity, one we cannot afford if we hope to close gaps in care, reduce disparities, and accelerate therapeutic innovation [2]Glasziou P, Chalmers I. Research waste is still a scandal—an essay review. BMJ. 2018;363:k4645.,[3]Zarin DA, Tse T, Williams RJ, et al. The ClinicalTrials.gov results database—update and key issues. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(9):852–860..

A New Era for Clinical Research Publishing

The ConductScience Journal was established in response to this challenge and with a clear vision to reshape how research, especially clinical research, is shared and sustained. Findings from trials and cohort studies have the power to reshape treatment algorithms, improve population health strategies, and inform reimbursement and regulatory frameworks. However, that influence can only be realized if the research is published with the purpose of being enriched, structured, and readily reusable.

We champion a future in which clinical research publications are more than just records—they are living assets. By embracing the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and the NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy, we ensure that trial protocols, patient outcomes, adverse event data, and subgroup analyses are embedded with semantic clarity and technical precision [4]Wilkinson MD, et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci Data. 2016;3:160018,[5]Jorgenson LA, Wolinetz CD, Collins FS. Incentivizing a new culture of data stewardship: the NIH policy for data management and sharing. Jama. 2021 Dec 14;326(22):2259-60..

From Patient to Publication—and Back Again

Modern clinical research generates a diverse range of data, from imaging scans and genetic biomarkers to wearable device metrics and real-world endpoints. Our publishing framework integrates standards such as CDISC, HL7 FHIR, and SNOMED CT to make these datasets shareable and interoperable across studies, platforms, and disciplines. By linking structured outcomes directly to their context in the article, we break down the silos that limit meta-analyses, comparative effectiveness research, and precision medicine applications.

This structure is not merely technical but ethical as well. Patients who participate in trials contribute more than data; they contribute to trust. That trust should be honored with publishing practices that maximize transparency, encourage reproducibility, and enable future researchers to build upon each insight without starting from scratch.

Empowering the Clinical Research Community

At The ConductScience Journal, we also believe in empowering the humans behind the research. Our approach includes:

  • Compensated and Transparent Peer Review, where subject-matter experts in clinical practice are fairly recognized for their contributions.
  • Scientist-Driven Publishing Models, where clinicians and research teams can build their own editorial brands, curate focus areas, and shape the discourse within their specialties.
  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration Tools are designed to connect clinical researchers with data scientists, engineers, and policy experts to amplify the societal impact of their findings.

Whether you are publishing a pilot study in telehealth interventions, a multicenter trial on cardiovascular outcomes, or a systematic review of real-world oncology data, your research deserves a platform that elevates both its scientific and societal value.

Our Vision for Clinical Research at ConductScience

This journal is part of a broader mission to fuse the analytical depth of data science with the humanistic drive of clinical care. We believe in a world where publishing accelerates practice and does not lag behind it. A world where data-rich clinical insights are not buried in appendices, but highlighted, connected, and explored through automated tools and real-time systems. And most importantly, a world where every published study contributes meaningfully and measurably to better patient outcomes.

As we launch this second issue, I invite you to reimagine what clinical research publishing can look like. Let us shift from passive documentation to active dissemination. And above all, let us continue to publish with purpose.

Sincerely,

Assistant Editor, The ConductScience Journal

Abbreviations

NIH: National Institutes of Health

FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable

DMS: Data Management and Sharing

CDISC: Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium

HL7 FHIR: Health Level Seven Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources

SNOMED CT: Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms

References

  1. Tunis SR, Stryer DB, Clancy CM. Practical clinical trials: increasing the value of clinical research for decision making in clinical and health policy. JAMA. 2003;290(12):1624–32. doi:10.1001/jama.290.12.1624
  2. Glasziou P, Chalmers I. Research waste is still a scandal—an essay review. BMJ. 2018;363:k4645.
  3. Zarin DA, Tse T, Williams RJ, et al. The ClinicalTrials.gov results database—update and key issues. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(9):852–860.
  4. Wilkinson MD, et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci Data. 2016;3:160018
  5. Jorgenson LA, Wolinetz CD, Collins FS. Incentivizing a new culture of data stewardship: the NIH policy for data management and sharing. Jama. 2021 Dec 14;326(22):2259-60.

© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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