Importance of randomisation—a call to researchers

Readers of the journal over the past 10 years or so will have noted the improvement both in the quality and quantity of articles published in this journal. While the editorial team can encourage research relevant to hospital pharmacists, at the end of the day, academics and practitioners have to step up to the mark which they have done. These developments are obviously very welcome, but I am aware that in terms of an evidence-based hierarchy,1 much tends to be at the lower end. In this editorial for the 2025 Congress issue, I want to issue a call to researchers to raise the bar and aim to publish more randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The journal regularly receives submissions of clinical studies with two groups of participants. However, these studies are rarely randomised, despite the possibility of achieving this with some additional effort. Such effort has the benefit … Correspondence to Professor Philip Wiffen; pwiffen{at}oxfordsrs.org.uk