The PubMed LinkOut system has now been set up to recognise the ISRCTN Register. Provided that PubMed users customise their record display preferences, any PubMed article that is related to a clinical trial registered in the ISRCTN Register and that quotes the relevant ISRCTN trial ID register in the PubMed Secondary ID field will now show an ISRCTN banner at the top of the record. This will allow users to go back to the original ISRCTN trial registration details.

You can customise the display of PubMed abstracts by performing the following steps:

1. Log on to PubMed. If you do not have a log on, it may be worthwhile obtaining one. This is a free service, and will ensure that you can change your settings to make use of the ISRCTN banner, and any other LinkOuts, in your searches.
2. Once you have logged on to PubMed, go to the left hand side of the screen, and click on the 'Filters (Includes LinkOut)' section.
3. Once you are in this section, you should be able to see a list of databases supplied by Entrez. Click on the PubMed database (top left hand corner of the selection).
4. Go to the top tab called 'Search' (third from the left), and type isrctn in all lowercase in the white box and press the 'go' button.
5. The search should find one result, called 'International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Register', and clicking on this will select your search.
6. Select the box next to 'Add a link icon to every item that matches this filter' to see the ISRCTN banner above every relevant abstract.
7. Finally, go to 'User Preferences (Email address)' on the left hand side of your screen (three sections below the 'filters' section), and under 'PubMed single citation display', select the term Abstract from the drop down list (you will not see the banner under any other display option), and press 'ok' to save this preference.

Now, every time you sign in to PubMed and search for an abstract that links back to an ISRCTN record, you should be able to see the following banner:

Clicking on this banner will take you directly to the trial record held on the ISRCTN register.

November 2006