Objectives

1. To describe how research ethics committees can use information gathered during the review process to support researchers and help reduce research waste.

2. To describe the role and activities of the REWARD Alliance’s regulation and governance working group.

Method A description of activities justified by quantitative data and analysis.

Results UK research ethics committees are able to gather critical data about all clinical trials being conducted in the NHS. This data spans institutions, sponsors and funders, providing an almost complete picture of human participant medical research being conducted in the UK. By supporting and interacting with researchers they are able to intervene at a relatively early stage of the research process to ensure that studies are well designed, have suitable dissemination plans, contribute to medical knowledge and are cognisant of the REWARD principles.

Conclusions Research ethics committees are uniquly placed to monitor and try to prevent research waste before studies have even begun. By making researchers aware of the REWARD statement, and helping them design research that meets the REWARD criteria, they are well placed to support the goals of evidence based medicine.