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GCP Blog — Field notes from clinical research

September 2026 Edition

The Lead Story

The Lead
GCP8 min read

How Long to Keep Clinical Trial Records: Retention Periods and Archiving Obligations

The most common mistake in this area is asking "what is the GCP retention period" and expecting a number. GCP does not supply one, and that is deliberate.

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Recent dispatches

GCP

Quality Tolerance Limits in Clinical Trials: How to Set, Breach, and Document 3-5 QTLs Under ICH E6(R3)

A vague sentence in ICH E6 and a stack of vendor decks that define QTLs but never operationalize them: that is what most clinical-ops and QA leads are working with when they stand up a QTL program.

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GCP

Serious Adverse Event Definition: What Makes an Event Serious

The definition that underpins expedited reporting worldwide comes from ICH E2A, which set out to capture the spirit and meaning of the various regulatory definitions in use.

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GCP

Clinical Trial Close-Out: The Verification Gate, Not a One-Day Checklist

Most ranking guides present clinical trial close-out as a tidy end-of-trial checklist: visit the site, count the drug, sign the binder, leave.

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GCP

Phase 1 Drug Manufacturing: Exempt From Part 211, Not From CGMP

Ask whether CGMP applies to a phase 1 investigational drug and you will get two confident, opposite answers.

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GCP

Central Lab vs Local Lab: What Changes Regulatorily

Search for central versus local laboratory and you will find turnaround time, cost per sample, kit logistics, assay standardisation across sites, and the operational argument that a central lab removes inter-laboratory variability.

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GCP

Electronic Data Capture in Clinical Trials: The GCP Accountability the Vendor Cannot Take From You

If you run or are selecting an EDC, the single most expensive assumption you can make is that the vendor's "GCP-compliant" or "Part 11 compliant" sticker covers your trial.

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GCP

Source Documents in Clinical Trials: The ALCOA+ Evidence Layer, Certified Copies, and Risk-Based SDV

Most teams can recite a definition of "source document" and reel off examples.

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GCP

Quality by Design in Clinical Trials: A Critical-to-Quality (CtQ) Identification Workflow, Not a Philosophy Lecture

Most "Quality by Design" explainers stop at the slogan and then list the ICH E8 CtQ categories as if naming them were the work.

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GCP

The Living Data Management Plan: A Risk-Based DMP Template That Survives Database Lock and Inspection

A Data Management Plan that passes internal review but falls apart at database lock is the most common failure mode in clinical data management (CDM).

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The archive

109 pieces

Query Management in Clinical Data Management: A Closure-Clock Playbook for One-Round Resolution

The Investigator Site File as an Inspection-Ready Evidence System: Reconciling the ISF to the TMF, and the Four Failure Modes Inspectors Cite

GCP Training Requirements: A Currency Status With an Expiry Date, Not a One-Time Certificate

Central vs Local IRB: A Reliance-and-Accountability Decision, Not a Speed Contest

Clinical Trial Database Lock: The Auditable State Machine (Soft Lock, Hard Lock, and the Controlled Unlock)

Principal Investigator Responsibilities: The Non-Delegable Accountability Boundary Under ICH E6(R3) and 21 CFR 312

Randomization and Blinding in Clinical Trials: One Bias-Control Chain From Allocation to Emergency Unblinding

The Ethics Committee Relationship: What an IRB/IEC Must Approve Before Enrollment and the Four Duties That Keep Approval Alive

The IRB Approval Lifecycle: Keeping Approval Continuously Valid Through Continuing Review, Amendments, and the Lapse You Must Avoid

IRB Continuing Review for Greater-Than-Minimal-Risk Studies: The Annual Floor, the Expiration Cliff, and What Still Needs Renewing

IRB Waiver of Consent: Three Decisions, Five Criteria, and What the 2024 FDA Rule Changed

Informed Consent Form Template: Build an Inspection-Ready ICF from the Required-Elements Checklist (ICH E6(R3) / 21 CFR 50)

Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB): When You Need One, and How to Charter It

Pharmacovigilance in Clinical Trials: The Classify-Then-Clock Workflow for AE, SAE, and SUSAR Reporting

SAE Reconciliation: A Field-Level Discrepancy-Resolution Workflow That Closes Before Lock and Never Lags the SUSAR Clock

Expedited Safety Reporting in Clinical Trials: The Four-Gate Clock for SAEs, SUSARs, and IND Safety Reports

Clinical Equipoise as a Monitorable Trial Condition: Who Owns It, When It Breaks, and What GCP Makes You Do

Essential Documents in a Clinical Trial: The ICH E6(R3) 'Essential Records' Function Test, Not a Frozen Checklist

The eTMF, Operationalized: Completeness, Timeliness, and Quality That Survive a GCP Inspection

The Clinical Research Coordinator as a GCP-Accountability Map: Which CRC Duties Carry Regulatory Weight Under ICH E6(R3) and 21 CFR 312

EDC, eCRF, eCOA and IWRS as One Regulated Data Flow: Who Owns the Source Record and Where ALCOA Breaks at the Seams

Clinical Trial Design and Management as One Quality-by-Design Chain: From Critical-to-Quality Factors to Risk-Based Oversight

Clinical Trial Site Monitoring: The Visit-Type Lifecycle (SSV, SIV, IMV, COV) and the SIV Enrollment Gate

The TMF Reference Model as a Tailoring Exercise: Mapping DIA/CDISC Zones to ICH E6(R3) Essential Records

Clinical Trial Close-Out Checklist: A Dependency-Gated Sequence Built on GCP and 21 CFR Part 312

The Monitoring Visit Report as Oversight Evidence: A GCP-Audit-Ready MVR, Not a Filled-In Form

Data Safety Monitoring Plan vs. Medical Monitoring Plan vs. DSMB Charter: Which One Your Trial Needs, Who Signs It, and How They Fit Together

Protocol Deviation Management: An Impact-Classified Triage-and-Timeline Workflow Under ICH E6(R3) and 21 CFR 312

Risk-Based Monitoring in Clinical Trials: The Quality-by-Design Chain That Decides Where a Monitor Goes

The Quality-by-Design Clinical Trial Protocol: Engineering Out Deviations with Critical-to-Quality Factors and a Defensible Schedule of Activities

The Protocol Deviation Log, Engineered: Columns, Classification, and the Timelines an Inspector Reads as Control

Clinical Trial Endpoints as a Pre-Locked Contract: Who May See Endpoint and Interim Data, When, and What Counts as a Deviation

CTMS vs eTMF: Which System Is the System of Record (and Why GCP Findings Live on That Boundary)

Choosing an eTMF System That Survives a GCP Inspection: A Sponsor's Defensibility Framework

Screen Failure in Clinical Trials: How to Calculate the Rate, Document It Under GCP, and Read It as a Critical-to-Quality Signal

There Is No FDA IND Database: What You Can Actually Look Up, and How the Form-1571 IND Clock Really Works

IRB Approval, Decoded: Pick Your Review Tier Before You Submit (Exempt, Expedited, or Full Board)

Types of Audits in Clinical Trials: A Risk-Mapped Framework for Inspection Readiness

Clinical Trial Registration on ClinicalTrials.gov: The Two Questions and Three Clocks That Decide Your Deadline

TMF vs ISF: An Ownership-and-Reconciliation Contract, Not a Location Table

CAPA in Clinical Trials: The Four-Gate Workflow That Closes a Finding and Keeps It Closed

Electronic Data Capture Software: The Four GCP and Part 11 Obligations That Decide Whether 'Compliant' Survives an Inspection

ICH GCP After E6(R3): What the July 2025 Standard Requires Now, and How It Maps to FDA 21 CFR 312

The Trial Master File Checklist That Survives an Inspection: Completeness, Timeliness, and Quality Over a Document List

Central vs. Local IRB: What a Reliance Agreement Moves, and the GCP Duties It Can Never Transfer

Vulnerable Populations in Clinical Research: A Triage-and-Safeguard Playbook (Not a List to Memorize)

Drug Accountability in Clinical Trials: Closing the Custody Chain Before the Inspector Opens the Log

From Word Template to Defensible Essential Document: Making an Informed Consent Form GCP-Compliant

Clinical Research Coordinator Responsibilities: A Delegation-Mapped Guide to Staying In Scope for an FDA Inspection

Remote Monitoring in Clinical Trials: An RBQM Method That Survives an Inspection, Not a COVID Stopgap

Medical Monitor Responsibilities in Clinical Trials: The Four Safety Decisions, Their Reporting Clocks, and the Records That Prove Them

FDA DSUR Guidance: The DIBD-Anchored Annual Filing That Consolidates Your IND Annual Report (Not a Template)

Protocol Feasibility Assessment as an ICH E8 Quality-by-Design Gate: Run It on the Draft, Before Lock

Clinical Trial Terminology, Grouped by Workflow and Stamped to ICH E6(R3) (2025)

Clinical Trial Sponsor Responsibilities: The Non-Delegable Oversight System Under ICH E6(R3)

The Clinical Trial Agreement, Decoded: A Clause-by-Clause Negotiator's Playbook for the GCP Duties You Cannot Sign Away

The Delegation of Authority Log: Who Did What, and Whether They Were Qualified To

Risk-Based Quality Management (RBQM) Under ICH E6(R3): Quality Designed In, Not Inspected In

The Clinical Study Report (CSR): ICH E3 Structure as a Reasoning Framework

The Clinical Monitoring Plan: A Risk-Based Blueprint, Not a Visit Schedule

SUSAR Reporting: Suspected, Unexpected, Serious, and the Clocks That Follow

Informed Consent in Clinical Trials: A Continuous Process, Not a Signature

Source Data Verification (SDV): Targeted, Risk-Based, and Paired With Source Data Review

Form FDA 1572: The Investigator's Binding Commitment, Not a Form-Fill

Adverse Event and SAE Reporting in Clinical Trials: One Decision Tree, Two Reporting Tracks

ALCOA and ALCOA+ Data Integrity in Clinical Trials: What the Acronym Actually Requires

The Trial Master File (TMF): An Inspection-Ready System, Not a Document Checklist

Protocol Deviations in Clinical Trials: Classify, Report, and Prevent Under ICH E6(R3)

Clinical Trial Budget Management: Building Compliant, Efficient Budgets in the ICH E6(R3) Era

Clinical Trial Delays Cost Prevention: Reducing Timeline Risk Without Compromising Compliance

Clinical Trial Milestones: Navigating FDA and ICH Regulatory Checkpoints for Successful Trial Execution

Audit Trail Requirements FDA 21 CFR Part 11 Clinical Research: What Regulators Expect and Why It Matters

Clinical Trial Management Guidelines: Applying FDA and ICH E6(R3) Standards for Modern, Risk-Based Trial Execution

Clinical Trial Project Management: Which Parts Are Obligations

Clinical Trial Start-Up: The Gates, Not the Checklist

GCP SOP Template Clinical Trial Documentation ICH E6(R3): Building Compliant, Risk-Based SOPs for Modern Trials

Clinical Trial Project Management Guidelines: ICH GCP and FDA Requirements

ICH E6(R3): What the Standard Contains and How to Navigate It

CTMS Clinical Trial Management System Regulatory Compliance: Meeting FDA and 21 CFR Part 11 Requirements with Confidence

Clinical Trial Closeout Procedures: Ensuring FDA and ICH E6(R3) Compliance While Protecting Long-Term Data Integrity

FDA Clinical Trial Phases I II III IV Regulatory Guidance

Clinical Trial Compliance: Navigating ICH E6(R3) GCP Requirements in a Risk-Based Regulatory Era

CTMS and EDC Comparison as Clinical Data Management Systems

CRO Oversight: What Transfers, What Does Not, and the Records That Prove It

Clinical Trial Site Feasibility: A Demonstration, Not a Questionnaire

Site Initiation Visit Checklist

Clinical Project Management GCP Pharmaceutical Research Guidelines

FDA 21 CFR Part 11 Audit Trail Requirements Compliance

Site Initiation Visit Checklist GCP FDA Guidance

Clinical Trial Phases Lifecycle FDA ICH E6 Guidance

Clinical Trial Sponsor Oversight Responsibilities

Clinical Trial Team Roles Responsibilities GCP Guidelines

Clinical Trial Startup FDA ICH E6 GCP Requirements

FDA 21 CFR Part 11 Electronic Records Software Compliance Guidance

Investigator-Initiated Studies: The Sponsor Duties You Take On

The Importance of Good Clinical Practice in Real-World Evidence Studies

The Role of Ethics in Clinical Trials: A Deep Dive

The Role of Good Clinical Practice in Pediatric Clinical Trials

Risk-Based Monitoring in Good Clinical Practice: An Innovative Approach

Clinical Trial Data Integrity: What the Data Life Cycle Actually Requires

Navigating Patient Rights and Safety in Clinical Studies

Understanding the Principles of GCP

Good Clinical Practice in the Era of Remote and Decentralized Clinical Trials

Breaking Down the Elements of Informed Consent

The Importance of Protocol Compliance in Clinical Trials

Essential Documents in Good Clinical Practice: A Comprehensive Guide

GCP Compliance: What It Actually Requires and How Each Obligation Is Proven

The Evolution of Good Clinical Practice Guidelines A Historical Overview

Data Quality and Good Clinical Practice