Contemporary Clinical Trials: Metrics & Scope

Contemporary Clinical Trials

Contemporary Clinical Trials is a peer-reviewed methodology journal published by Elsevier (Print ISSN 1551-7144, Electronic ISSN 1559-2030) dedicated to the design, conduct, statistical analysis, and regulatory governance of clinical trials. Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports (JCR) records a 2-year Journal Impact Factor of 2.0 (2023 JCR data year, released in 2024), alongside a Scopus CiteScore of 3.6. The journal is complemented by Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, a gold open-access companion title.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 7 Nov 2026

Overview and Journal Profile

Originally established in 1980 under the title Controlled Clinical Trials, the journal was renamed Contemporary Clinical Trials in February 2005 (beginning Volume 26, Issue 1). It is published by Elsevier (Print ISSN 1551-7144, Electronic ISSN 1559-2030, NLM ID 101242342) and operates under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief Dr. JoAnn E. Manson. The publication is indexed across major bibliographic databases, including MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, and the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE).

Within modern biopharmaceutical development, trial methodology forms the foundation of regulatory evidence. Sponsoring organizations and research partners often align trial protocols with published methodological consensus to satisfy regulatory oversight, notably regarding sponsor oversight under ICH E6(R3) and robust clinical data management frameworks.

Citation Metrics and Impact Factor Context

The Clarivate Journal Impact Factor measures the frequency with which an average citable article published in the journal during the preceding two years was cited in the JCR evaluation year. For Contemporary Clinical Trials, JCR performance reflects its niche methodological readership:

2023 Journal Impact Factor (Clarivate JCR): 2.0 (released June 2024).
2022 Journal Impact Factor: 2.2.
Scopus CiteScore: 3.6, placing the journal in Quartile 1 (Q1) within Scopus categories for Medicine (miscellaneous) and Pharmacology (medical).

While general medical journals often achieve higher impact factors driven by large clinical trial results, specialized methodology titles focus on operational execution, randomization schemes, sample size calculations, and data monitoring committee charters.

Scope: Methodology and Operational Governance

Contemporary Clinical Trials does not typically publish routine efficacy or safety results of standard drug trials unless the trial features a novel design or significant methodological innovation. The journal’s editorial remit encompasses:

Adaptive and Bayesian trial designs.
Recruitment strategies and clinical trial site selection metrics.
Quality-by-design principles and risk-based trial monitoring.
Ethics, patient safety, and institutional review board governance.
Statistical methodologies for handling missing data, estimands, and surrogate endpoints.

Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications (Companion Journal)

In October 2015, Elsevier launched Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications (Electronic ISSN 2451-8654, NLM ID 101671157) as a fully open-access companion title. While the flagship journal operates on a hybrid model (offering both subscription publication and optional open access via author processing charges), Communications is entirely gold open access with articles deposited directly into PubMed Central (PMC). It maintains a Scopus CiteScore of 2.7, offering authors a specialized outlet for trial protocols, pilot studies, and incremental methodological assessments.

Responsible Evaluation and DORA Guardrails

In accordance with the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), journal-level metrics such as the Journal Impact Factor or CiteScore must not serve as surrogate measures for the quality of individual studies. Individual articles published in Contemporary Clinical Trials or its companion journal must be evaluated on their own technical rigor and reproducibility, using persistent identifiers like Crossref DOIs to track article-level citations and public protocol registrations.

Sources

National Library of Medicine. NLM Catalog: Contemporary Clinical Trials (NLM ID 101242342). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/101242342 (read 2026-11-07).
National Library of Medicine. NLM Catalog: Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications (NLM ID 101671157). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/101671157 (read 2026-11-07).
Clarivate. Journal Citation Reports (JCR): Contemporary Clinical Trials (ISSN 1551-7144). Clarivate Analytics (read 2026-11-07).
Elsevier. Contemporary Clinical Trials Editorial Board and Journal Overview. https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/contemporary-clinical-trials (read 2026-11-07).

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