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Clinical Research Glossary

Expand your clinical research word power with the SOM Clinical Research Glossary

SOM Clinical Research Glossary

Clinical research has a highly specialized vocabulary with a vast number of acronyms and abbreviations that help facilitate scientific communication. Whether you are new to clinical research or an experienced member of the research team, understanding and remembering the nuances of clinical research vocabulary can be challenging.

To ensure a consistent and clear clinical research communication, the CRSO has created the SOM Clinical Research Glossary, a comprehensive clinical research glossary in clear and plain language that aligns with industry and regulatory standards. As the glossary is intended to be broadly applicable to various types of research and audiences, its definitions provide nuances of usage. If there are variations in how key agencies are defining a term, each definition is provided.

We need your feedback

The SOM Clinical Research Glossary is intended to be a living resource that will be periodically updated with new terms and clarifications. Please let us know, if there is a word, acronym, or abbreviation you see regularly in clinical research that is not included in the glossary or if you want to propose an alternative definition.