Clinical Trial Templates to Start Your Clinical Research

In this article, you will find everything you need to start your clinical research trials, with easy-to-understand guidance and terminology, 26 adaptable templates, and project plans in Microsoft Word, Excel, Project, and SharePoint formats.

What Is the Research Protocol?

All clinical research starts with the research protocol, a document that details all aspects of the trial: its background, rationale, objectives, design, methodology, statistical analysis plan, and organization. With the protocol, you can make sure you protect the participants and collect the data. Using protocol templates, you can start thinking through what you need to meet compliance standards with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and clinical study best practices.

Research Protocol Template

The full research protocol includes the following sections and topics:

To track every aspect of the proposed research for each participant, create a case report form (CRF) that you can use in both paper and electronic formats. With CRFs, you can collect and analyze data for analysis, and then generate a conclusion for your study. For more information on the distinct phases of clinical trials, see “Understanding the Phases of Clinical Trials.”

Concept Protocol Template

Concept Protocol Template

Before you start your full protocol, consider putting together a concept protocol. A concept protocol helps you introduce an abstract project to stakeholders and encourage discussion around the proposed project.

Download Concept Protocol Template for Clinical Research

Phase 1 Clinical Trial Protocol Template

Phase 1 Clinical Trial Protocol Template

For nonclinical research or clinical trials that are Phase 0 or Phase 1, use this free template. Phase 1 or nonclinical trials do not require the same amount of detail as a full study protocol.

Research Compliance Templates

Protocol Training Log Template

By training staff members on the research protocol, you’ll help them meet compliance standards and understand the purpose and details of the study. Use a training log to record all training that the site study staff completes, signing the log entry for verification.

Download Protocol Training Log Template

Protocol Deviation Template

Protocol Deviation Tracking Log Template

Protocol deviations are inadvertent or unplanned changes or noncompliance with the research protocol. These events do not increase risk or decrease benefit, nor do they impinge on participants’ safety or rights. They do not compromise study data, but you should capture the deviation for reference.

Download Protocol Deviation Log Template

Delegation of Authority Log Template

Delegation of Authority Log Template

Once you’ve trained your staff and figured out their roles and responsibilities, the principal investigator must delegate authority. The delegation of authority log should be filled out and signed prior to the study’s start.

Download Delegation of Authority Log Template

Site Selection Visit Form Template

Pre Site Selection Visit Checklist Report Template

The sponsor must perform a site visit to determine its suitability as part of a multisite study. This means taking a tour to determine whether the site has the capabilities to meet the sponsor’s goals.

Download Site Selection Visit Form Template

Study Site Initiation Checklist

Study Initiation Checklist

Teams must also perform an inspection to determine if a site has the appropriate staff, training, equipment, and supplies to be part of a multisite trial.

Download Study Site Initiation Checklist

Project Management for Clinical Trials, Practices, Templates, and Documents

Clinical trials are big projects. If the organization is not used to planning and wants to conduct clinical research, it must hire a project manager and work with senior leadership to introduce planning into the organization.

Together, they should develop the main goals and define their limits and the terms of success. They should set out a strategy for which tasks and sets of tasks to perform and in what manner. Test any planning tools or software before the trials start. When possible, use templates to ensure consistency and best practices.

Once the trial starts, evaluate your systems with standardized metrics. The project manager can track study deviations and apply corrective actions. Use the lessons learned from past and current projects to help guide future projects. Employing consistent tools gives you the opportunity to draw from a reservoir of data.

Clinical research can cost billions of dollars and years of time, resources, and effort. As

such, project management best practices and methodologies are critical to the success of a clinical trial, according to experts.

Many software systems are available to manage clinical trials. When very specialized, these are referred to as clinical trial management systems (CTMSs). However, other platforms can also manage clinical trials and may already be embedded with your information technology. Regardless of the platform you use, you should have full project management functionality, such as planning and reporting modules, as well as the ability to track participant contact information, deadlines, and milestones.

You may want to consider the following project management documents for your clinical research.

Project Management Plan (PMP) for Clinical Trials

A PMP delineates and acts as an agreed-upon document of scope, responsibilities, and guidance. You can use it throughout the project to help stay on track. Every clinical trial has difficult milestones, but a good project management plan can help you sidestep some of the regular issues.

You have many PMP software platforms to choose from, but regardless of your ultimate decision, your PMP must focus on protocol adherence, subject care, and service quality, along with how to achieve each standard. Here are the sections you should include in your PMP for a clinical trial:

Clinical Research Project Activity List

Clinical Research Project Activity List Template

A project activity list is an itemized documentation of all the activities scheduled as part of the project. This list should be very detailed, including the status and priority of the task, when it is due, and to whom it is assigned.

Download Clinical Research Project Activity List Template

Clinical Trial Timeline Template

A timeline enables you and your staff to track each major portion or milestone of your clinical trial. Your timeline should include these steps:

Use this free template to develop your own clinical trial timeline. Add your own steps, milestones, and dates for a comprehensive, expansive view.

Clinical Trail Timeline Template

Download Clinical Trial Timeline Template

For a different perspective, add your project details to this free template so you can view your timeline visually.

Clinical Trial Timeline and Graph Template

Download Trial Timeline and Graph Template

Microsoft Project Management for Clinical Trials

First released in 1985, Project is a well-respected Microsoft product for project management. Microsoft Project was not traditionally available as a part of Office Suites, a package of programs for professionals and professional organizations. However, Microsoft recently included it as a part of the Windows 2016 suite.

Microsoft Project Management has the following features:

Microsoft Project has built-in templates that you can apply to clinical trial management.

Microsoft SharePoint for Clinical Trials

SharePoint is a collaboration platform that is integrated with Microsoft Office. SharePoint manages and stores documents, and it enables multiple users to access the documents via their own site or a standardized Microsoft site. A subscription to Microsoft Office 365’s SharePoint does not require a server, but customization options are limited; the flexible authentication and authorization systems are built in.

SharePoint Server, available in Standard or Enterprise versions, can be developed as either

virtual or hosted services in a business’s IT department. SharePoint Server enables the organization to control the SharePoint features available to staff, and you can scale it to meet different numbers of users.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is a Microsoft-hosted version that comes with Microsoft Office. Microsoft provides a template in SharePoint for Clinical Trials: Clinical Trial Initiation and Management application template for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. You can download and add this template to your SharePoint Services, which enables you to create the following:

The clinical trial template has site lists of libraries for clinical trial protocols, protocol documents, announcements, calendars, issues, tasks, and document discussions. These can be further customized with different versions of SharePoint. To download this template, you will need access to SharePoint Server 3.0.

Clinical Research Budget Plan Template

In many instances, you set the clinical trial budget after much negotiation with a sponsor. Other times, you need to build a budget before the sponsor is even on board, as a way to convince them of the project’s feasibility. The key cost drivers for any clinical research project are the following:

Before you start putting together your research budget, you must gather the following:

Clinical Research Budget Template

Put together your own clinical trial budget with this free clinical research budget template.

Clinical Research Tracking Log Templates

Clinical research requires scrupulous planning, a well-developed team, regulatory adherence, and above all, excellent documentation. It is therefore critical for clinical trial project managers to have a completed scope of work and to develop all the forms and templates before the trial begins. Some of these documents are for planning, and some, like those included below, are for operational purposes.

Regulatory Binder Checklist

Regulatory Binder Checklist Template

Strong clinical practice thrives with a regulatory binder checklist. This checklist keeps track of all paper versions of essential regulatory study documents. Each document should also include any electronic locations. This document should be regularly updated, customized for unique studies, and stored in reverse chronological order.

Download Regulatory Binder Checklist

Clinical Study Document Tracking Log

Clinical Study Document Tracking Log Template

It is important to not only track all paperwork related to a clinical trial, but also be able to locate it easily between various staff and sites. A clinical trial document tracking log can help you keep a written trail of the documents and when they were submitted and approved. You should also keep copies of the documents with the log. Use this free template to develop your own clinical study document tracking log. You can also adapt the log for specific correspondence, such as documents relating to FDA or IRB submissions, but it should not be mixed with regulatory documentation.

Download Clinical Study Document Tracking Log

Data and Safety Monitoring Plan (DSMP) Template

Before you can undertake a study, you must develop a DSMP for how to keep participants safe and how to secure data and ensure accuracy. The DSMP has several sections:

Data and Safety Monitoring Plan Template for Clinical Research

Create your own data and safety monitoring plan using this free template. It lays out each section so you can specify them for your research. The principal investigator should sign and date this document once it is complete so that it may be filed.

Research Communication Plan Template

A communication plan should describe how you will converse with internal and external stakeholders during your project. Your communication plan should include a brief overview of your project and a breakdown of the messages you need to get out. You should adapt the messages for different audiences and define who will deliver these messages. The messages should include the following:

Clinical Trial Communication Plan Template

Develop your own communication plan using this free clinical trial communication plan template. This template also includes a section for situation analysis and risk analysis that asks for inputs on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Participant Management in Clinical Trials Using Templates

A few main documents help ensure that your participants are tracked and well-cared for before and during your research study.

Enrollment Log for Clinical Trials Template

Enrollment Log Clinical Trial Template

This log keeps track of everyone that has been enrolled for participation in your study. This does not mean that they have met the eligibility requirements or have been otherwise screened, but it is a record that they have signed up to be admitted.

Download Enrollment Log for Clinical Trials Template

Informed Consent Form Templates

Informed consent is the central tenet of ethical research with human subjects. The consent process typically involves a researcher delineating what is involved in the study, its risks and benefits, what a participant’s duties entail, and answering any questions they have. Before you perform any research, make sure the informed consent document is signed and the participant receives a copy, unless the informed consent document has been waived by an institutional review board (IRB). Federal regulations 45 CFR 46.116 govern what you must provide in the informed consent process in the United States.

To prepare informed consent documentation, researchers must do the following:

These templates assist the principal investigator in the design of their informed consent forms (ICFs). You can adapt them to accommodate the details of any study and include both the information sheet and the consent form. Modify each section with the appropriate description described in italics. Use the general template for any type of research.

General Informed Consent Template

Use the clinical trial template for medical research.

Informed Consent for Clinical Trials Template

Eligibility Criteria (Inclusion/Exclusion) Checklist

Eligibility Criteria Inclusion Exclusion Checklist Template

Eligibility criteria are an essential part of clinical trials. They define the population under investigation.

Inclusion criteria are the standards that participants must meet to enroll in the study. For example, in a study on a new diabetes medication, you would likely want participants who have already been diagnosed with diabetes.

Exclusion criteria specify the characteristics that disqualify participants from taking part in the research. For example, in the diabetes study above, the proposed diabetes drug may target a specific age demographic. One exclusion criterion could be a participant whose age falls outside of the range.

Download Eligibility Checklist Inclusion-Exclusion Template

Concomitant Medication Log Template

Concomitant Medication Log Template

Properly documenting any medications that participants are taking is imperative to understanding the reactions occurring in their bodies, as well as what could spur adverse and severe adverse events during the study. Fill out a concomitant medication log for every participant and account for everything participants take, even seemingly innocuous items like multivitamins.

Download Concomitant Medication Log Template

Adverse Event Form

Adverse Event Report Form

Clinical research can result in complications for the participants and trigger an adverse or severe adverse event. An adverse or severe adverse event is when participants in a clinical trial have negative medical symptoms that can be shown in laboratory or physical testing. Each participant in a clinical trial should have an adverse event log that tracks any adverse events through the duration of the study.

Download Adverse Event Form Template

Severe Adverse Event Form

Severe Adverse Event Report Form

A severe adverse event (SAE) is a special case of an adverse event in which the outcomes are acute. Examples of SAEs include death, life-threatening complications, or anything leading to immediate hospitalization, physical disability, or congenital abnormalities. Log SAEs in the AE form, but fill out an additional SAE form.

Download Severe Adverse Event Form Template

Post-Clinical Study Research Documentation and Templates

After you complete or terminate a clinical trial, you should prepare several additional documents. Here are some examples of this documentation:

Clinical Study Summary Report Template

Clinical Study Summary Report Template

Assemble the summary report at the end of a study to get results into the sponsor’s or public’s hands while you complete the full report. A summary report is typically about 2-3 page-long document that encompasses the highlights from the trial.

Clinical Study Report (Full) Template

Clinical Study Report Template

The full clinical study report (CSR) encompasses all aspects and details of the research you’ve conducted. It is not a sales or marketing tool; instead, it is a scientific report details the methodology and shows scientific rigor.

Public Links and Resources for Clinical Trials

The following are publicly available resources, tools, and links for clinical trial practitioners and principal investigators:

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