The National Medical Research Register--a vital link between current and future research

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Medical Research Management
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Research transparency and information sharing are crucial for scientific advancement.
• The National Institutes of Health Malaysia recognized the need for a centralized research registration system.
• Existing systems lacked integration between research registration, ethics approval, and grant applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the National Medical Research Register (NMRR) established by the National Institutes of Health Malaysia.
• To highlight the NMRR's role in facilitating research transparency and streamlining administrative processes.
• To showcase the NMRR as a unique, integrated platform for medical research in Malaysia.

Main Methods:

• Establishment of a publicly accessible, searchable website for research registration.
• Integration of the registration system with ethics approval (MREC) and Ministry of Health research grant applications.
• Data collection on user registration and research proposal submissions from May 2007 to December 2009.

Main Results:

• Over 3000 public users registered and more than 1000 research proposals uploaded by December 2009.
• Steady increase in the registration of research proposals, clinical trials, and industrial sponsored trials from 2007 to 2009.
• The NMRR became the first global research register linking proposal registration to ethical review and grant applications.

Conclusions:

• The NMRR significantly enhances research transparency and efficiency in Malaysia.
• The integrated web-based system offers a novel approach to medical research administration.
• Future plans include linking the NMRR with publication databases to further improve research discoverability.