← All sources Research activity
ClinicalTrials.govClinicalTrials.gov Studies
U.S. National Library of Medicine (ClinicalTrials.gov) · Tier-1 · research-only (never on individual profiles)
ClinicalTrials.gov is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's registry of interventional and observational clinical studies. It records sponsors, principal investigators (overall officials), conditions, interventions, and study status. As of the 2026-06-14 snapshot, Fonteum holds 555,500 registered studies.
How this source shows up on Fonteum.
Tier-1 research-only context for studies on research activity and key-opinion-leader networks. Fonteum surfaces study title, status, conditions, sponsor, and overall officials at the aggregate level. Records are name-keyed (PIs and sponsors by name / affiliation); there is no NPI in the source, and NPI / entity-graph linkage is deferred — ambiguous matches are held.
What this source does NOT mean
A ClinicalTrials.gov record describes a registered study — it does not measure provider quality, outcomes, or endorsement, and a named investigator is not a Fonteum-asserted identity match to any specific provider profile. Registration does not imply a result, an approval, or a Fonteum assessment.
Research and data questions this source supports.
- Build a research dataset of registered clinical studies by condition, sponsor, or status with row-level provenance.
- Analyze research-activity and key-opinion-leader networks at the aggregate, name-keyed level.
- Track interventional and observational study volume by condition area over time.
- Feed a retrieval system with structured study records (NCT id, title, status, sponsor) and source attribution attached.
Dataset size: 555,500 registered studies (2026-06-14 snapshot)
Per-field display contract.
Fields listed below show their configured `display_allowed` flag from the §94 provenance schema. Fields marked write-locked are captured for audit and are not rendered on profile pages.
Research-only — never on profiles
5 fieldsWhat we can’t infer from this source.
- Tier-1 — aggregate research context only; never rendered on individual provider profiles.
- Name-keyed: investigators and sponsors are recorded by name / affiliation. There is no NPI in the source.
- NPI / entity-graph linkage is deferred; ambiguous name matches are held, not written.
- Registration is self-reported by sponsors and may lag or omit results.
Authority, license, publisher cadence.
Authority
U.S. National Library of Medicine (ClinicalTrials.gov)
Tier
Tier-1 · research-only (never on individual profiles)
Publisher / configured cadence
Declared or configured cadence: Monthly — pulled from the ClinicalTrials.gov Data API v2. Not evidence of the latest loaded source date.
License
Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Public-domain federal data; free to use with attribution. License ↗
Official URL
Attribution requirement
Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (ClinicalTrials.gov) · Snapshot {YYYY-MM-DD}
What the source allows.
Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (ClinicalTrials.gov). The Data API v2 is key-less and public-domain; the only ask is the NLM courtesy attribution. Snapshot and attestation fields must be read from the specific artifact; no provenance fact currently links deterministically to a signature.
What a single field looks like in the graph.
This worked example shows the provenance shape used when a surfaced field has populated source, last-checked, display-rule, and confidence metadata. Individual fields may omit unavailable values.
Field
Registered study (research-only)
Sample value
NCT00000000 · Recruiting · Lead sponsor: Example University
Provenance line
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Snapshot 2026-06-14 · Methodology clinicaltrials-gov/v1 · Display rule: name-keyed research context — never an asserted provider-identity match
Official API, bulk download, and Fonteum endpoints.
Official API / download
Fonteum surface
Common questions about ClinicalTrials.gov.
- What is ClinicalTrials.gov?
- ClinicalTrials.gov is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry of interventional and observational clinical studies conducted around the world. Each record carries an NCT registration number, study title, status, conditions, interventions, sponsor, and overall officials (principal investigators).
- How does Fonteum source ClinicalTrials.gov data?
- Fonteum pulls study-level records from the ClinicalTrials.gov Data API v2, which is key-less and public-domain. The loaded release date and any attestation must be inspected separately. As of the 2026-06-14 snapshot, Fonteum holds 555,500 registered studies.
- Are study investigators linked to provider profiles?
- No. ClinicalTrials.gov records are name-keyed — principal investigators and sponsors are recorded by name and affiliation, and there is no NPI in the source. NPI / entity-graph linkage is deferred; a named investigator is not a Fonteum-asserted identity match to any specific provider profile.
- Does a registered study mean a result or an approval?
- No. Registration records that a study exists — it does not imply a result, a regulatory approval, or a Fonteum assessment. Registration is self-reported by sponsors and may lag or omit results.
- How can I cite this data?
- Use the NLM courtesy attribution: 'Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (ClinicalTrials.gov)'. The data is public-domain federal data; the only ask is that courtesy attribution.
Where this source already shows up.
Related sources in the graph
- /sources → The generated source-catalog subset — documented datasets Fonteum cites.
- /data-provenance → The provider graph — pipeline diagram, source-family clusters, field-level provenance examples, display rules.
- /methodology → Documented sourcing, publisher cadence, observed freshness, and corrections policy.
- /editorial-policy → Independence, sourcing, conflicts, corrections, retractions.