# A public transparency score for every trial sponsor, used by sites and patients

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-tr2-sponsor-transparency-score/  
OnCo record `idea-tr2-sponsor-transparency-score` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Rate sponsors on whether they publish their results, share data and register outcomes honestly. Hospitals and patients can then prefer sponsors that behave well.

## Summary

TrialsTracker-style dashboards already compute results-posting rates per sponsor. A composite score (results posting, time to publication, data sharing, outcome-switching audit, protocol availability) published annually and offered to hospital research offices and patient groups as a factor in choosing which trials to host or join would attach a reputational and recruitment cost to opacity.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Sponsors in the bottom quartile will improve their score by at least 20 points within two years of publication, and sites adopting the score in feasibility assessments will report using it.
- Rationale: Public university rankings on transparency in the UK and Germany produced rapid compliance improvements. Recruitment is the resource sponsors most fear losing.
- Proposed test: Publish scores for the top 50 oncology sponsors; survey research offices on use; re-score annually.
- Maturity: early-clinical
- Actor: data

## Sources

- FDAAA TrialsTracker: https://fdaaa.trialstracker.net/

## Connected records

- collections: [ClinicalTrials.gov](https://onco.cc/collections/clinicaltrials-gov/)
- ideas: [Actually fine sponsors who do not post trial results](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-tr2-fdaaa-enforcement/)
- bottlenecks: [Failures are hidden](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-negative-results/), [Patients lack understanding, navigation and agency](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-patient-voice/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/idea-tr2-sponsor-transparency-score.json