Call for papers - Master protocols

Guest Editors

Franz König, MA, MD, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Gilmar Reis, MD, MA, PhD, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil & McMaster University, Canada

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 19 May 2025

BMC Medical Research Methodology invites submissions to our Collection on Master protocols. Master protocols represent an innovative approach to clinical trial design that revolutionizes the evaluation of multiple treatments within a single disease or condition. In contrast to traditional clinical trials, they allow for the simultaneous assessment of multiple interventions, employing adaptive design methodologies to efficiently allocate resources and optimize treatment comparisons.

This Collection welcomes submissions exploring adaptive design methodologies, statistical considerations, disease-specific applications, comparative effectiveness research, and health economics within the context of Master protocols.

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This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Franz König, MA, MD, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Dr Franz König is Associate Professor at the Center for Medical Data Science of Medical Statistics at the Medical University of Vienna, where he is the head of the working group on adaptive designs. He is member of the ethics committee. He has some regulatory background having been seconded to the European Medicines Agency as statistical expert before (2008-10). His main research interests are multiple testing, adaptive designs, interim analyses, data safety monitoring boards (DSMB), rare diseases and master protocols focusing on platform trials. He has been work package leader focusing on innovative trials designs in several European projects.

Gilmar Reis, MD, MA, PhD, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Cardiologia Assistencial e de Pesquisa LTDA (Cardresearch), Brazil & McMaster University, Canada

Dr Reis received his MD at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in 1989. His research on Rheumatic Diseases was the basis for his PhD at the Heart Institute of the University of São Paulo. He has current appointments as Associate Professor of Medicine at Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais since 2003 and Associate Professor (part time) at Faculty of Sciences of the McMaster University. He is fellow of the American College of Cardiology and European Society of Cardiology since 2011. Dr Reis has been involved in several multicentric clinical trials in cardiology and Intensive Care Medicine since his returning to Brazil. During the COVID-19 pandemics Dr Reis designed an adaptive clinical research trial for interventional therapies in early COVID-19 diseased patients.

About the Collection

BMC Medical Research Methodology invites submissions to our Collection on Master protocols. Master protocols represent an innovative approach to clinical trial design that revolutionizes the evaluation of multiple treatments within a single disease or condition. In contrast to traditional clinical trials, they allow for the simultaneous assessment of multiple interventions, employing adaptive design methodologies to efficiently allocate resources and optimize treatment comparisons. This approach holds significant relevance in the realm of clinical research, as it offers the potential to expedite the identification of effective therapies, reduce the time and cost associated with drug development, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Master protocols encompass a broad spectrum of methodologies, spanning various disease areas and therapeutic modalities.

This Collection welcomes submissions exploring adaptive design methodologies, statistical considerations, disease-specific applications, comparative effectiveness research, and health economics within the context of Master protocols.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Master protcols" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.