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Clinical trials acronyms – like them or loathe them, more and more study groups are now shoehorning these in (I’m looking at you, ENTICES trial, which supposedly stands for ‘ENoxaparin and TIClopidine after Elective Stenting’). Some acronyms are more believable, like the BBC-ONE trial (‘British Bifurcation Coronary study: Old, New, and Evolving strategies’), and others are cleverly put together, such as the SOX trial, which is subtitled ‘Compression Stockings to Prevent the Post-Thrombotic Syndrome’. My personal favourite is the 3CPO trial (sic) – one for the nerds.

Giving a trial an acronym may make it sound less daunting to the public and potentially increase trial enrolment. A study published in NEJM in 2006 confirms this, finding that trials with acronyms enrolled up to five times more patients than those without. The same study reports that trials with acronyms were 4 times as likely to be given pharma-funding, a significant figure considering the difficulties in obtaining funding. Acronymmed trials (to coin a term) were also cited twice as often as un-acronymmed studies, perhaps hinting that an amusingly named trial is more memorable, however hard you shoehorn in the acronym.

Today we’re delighting in clever and amusing clinical trials acronyms (BATMAN! CHEESE! BLIND-DATE! (yes, really)), and we’re giving you the chance to win exclusive F1000Trials merchandise by tweeting your favourite funny or clever trials acronyms to @F1000Trials. The entry that impresses or tickles us the most will be deemed winner on Monday and receive a brand-new F1000Trials mug and T-shirt, as seen below. Get tweeting!