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Data

Cumulative RCTs published in high-ranked medical journals

About this data

Source
Catalá-López et al. (2020) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
November 29, 2021
Date range
2017–2017

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Catalá-López et al. – Global mapping of randomised trials related articles published in high-impact-factor medical journals: A cross-sectional analysis

This is a dataset of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in high-impact medical journals (with an impact factor above 10 in 2017). This includes primary analyses, secondary analyses and methods papers of RCTs. The papers were extracted from PubMed and their associated raw metadata was collected from the Web of Science. Country refers to the country of the first author's affiliated institution.

Retrieved on
November 29, 2021
Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3944-9
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Catalá-López, F., Aleixandre-Benavent, R., Caulley, L., Hutton, B., Tabarés-Seisdedos, R., Moher, D., & Alonso-Arroyo, A. (2020). Global mapping of randomised trials related articles published in high-impact-factor medical journals: A cross-sectional analysis. Trials, 21(1), 34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3944-9.

This is a dataset of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in high-impact medical journals (with an impact factor above 10 in 2017). This includes primary analyses, secondary analyses and methods papers of RCTs. The papers were extracted from PubMed and their associated raw metadata was collected from the Web of Science. Country refers to the country of the first author's affiliated institution.

Retrieved on
November 29, 2021
Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3944-9
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Catalá-López, F., Aleixandre-Benavent, R., Caulley, L., Hutton, B., Tabarés-Seisdedos, R., Moher, D., & Alonso-Arroyo, A. (2020). Global mapping of randomised trials related articles published in high-impact-factor medical journals: A cross-sectional analysis. Trials, 21(1), 34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3944-9.

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Cumulative RCTs published in high-ranked medical journals”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from Catalá-López et al.. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-085513/grapher/total-number-of-rcts-published-in-high-ranked-medical-journals.html [online resource] (archived on May 12, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Catalá-López et al. (2020) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

Catalá-López et al. (2020) – processed by Our World in Data. “Cumulative RCTs published in high-ranked medical journals” [dataset]. Catalá-López et al., “Global mapping of randomised trials related articles published in high-impact-factor medical journals: A cross-sectional analysis” [original data]. Retrieved May 12, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-085513/grapher/total-number-of-rcts-published-in-high-ranked-medical-journals.html (archived on May 12, 2026).

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