How to Get Alerts for New Clinical Trials

There is no single verified public alert that covers every clinical trial registry and every kind of update. For US and international searches, start with ClinicalTrials.gov; save individual studies there to check their records for updates. For broader international coverage, search the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). For current EU/EEA records, use the CTIS public portal. The legacy EU Clinical Trials Register (EU-CTR) documents an RSS feed for matching records added or updated in the previous seven days.

These options do different things: a saved study is a record you can revisit, an RSS feed delivers matching feed items, and certain CTIS notifications are for professional workspace users. Do not assume that saving a study creates an email alert for every new trial matching your search.

1. Decide what you want to be alerted about

“New trial” can mean three different things. Choose the one that fits your need before setting up monitoring:

Newly registered studies: records first added to a registry. Use a broad condition search and check registration dates when available.
Changes to a particular study: changes to a record you have already found. Save the study and revisit it to check for updates.
Studies currently seeking participants: filter for recruiting or not-yet-recruiting status, then verify the status on the record. A record update does not necessarily mean recruitment has begun.

Decide whether you need a particular country or travel area, age group, treatment, or study phase. These choices make searches more useful and reduce irrelevant results. If you are considering participation, use the registry record to check the location, eligibility criteria, recruitment status, and study contact information.

2. Start with ClinicalTrials.gov for US searches

Search for the condition or disease on ClinicalTrials.gov. Try common synonyms if your first search is too narrow.
If you are looking to join a study, filter for recruiting and not-yet-recruiting studies. Add a location and travel radius if proximity matters.
Refine results with relevant filters such as age, sex, treatment, and other available study details.
Open records that appear relevant. Check the recruitment status, locations, eligibility criteria, and the date fields shown in the record.
Use My Saved Studies to save individual records you want to revisit. Check those records for updates; do not treat saving as a guaranteed automatic alert for new matching studies.

ClinicalTrials.gov describes itself as a search resource, not a recruitment or trial-matching service. It does not send study communications or match users with trials. For studies looking for participants, the record may provide contact details; prospective participants contact the study directly.

3. Broaden the search through WHO ICTRP

The WHO ICTRP Search Portal provides one search entry point for records supplied by registries around the world. WHO describes its aim as “a single point of access to information about ongoing and completed clinical trials.” Its records are in English; some source registries provide additional languages.

Search for the condition, intervention, or both. Add synonyms and alternate spellings when relevant.
Use the available search operators and filters, including recruitment status, country, registration date, and phase.
Sort by registration date when you want to review recently registered records.
Open a promising result and follow it to its originating registry for full details and contact information.

ICTRP aggregates data from multiple providers. Update timing may differ among registries, so a recent registration date or search result should not be read as a promise of real-time coverage. For language or contact details that are missing from the portal, check the originating registry.

4. Search EU/EEA trials through CTIS

For current trials under the EU Clinical Trials Regulation, use the CTIS public portal. Its public trial map supports searches by condition and location, including lay-language searches. Anyone can use the public portal.

EMA documentation also describes alerts and notifications in CTIS workspaces for sponsors and authorities. Those are professional system functions; they should not be described as public patient email alerts. Check the public record for the current trial details and the route to contact the study team.

5. Use the EU-CTR RSS feed for relevant older records

The EU Clinical Trials Register covers earlier Directive-era records. Its documented RSS feed can be generated for a matching search and reports matching trials added or updated in the previous seven days. EMA directs users to CTIS for trials under the current Clinical Trials Regulation and to EU-CTR for earlier records.

Run a relevant search in EU-CTR.
Use the register’s RSS option to generate a feed for that search.
Subscribe to the feed in an RSS reader if you want to check matching added or updated records.
Open records and confirm their details and status; the feed’s seven-day window does not make it a substitute for current CTIS coverage.

Which route should you use?

Route	Useful for	What it provides	Audience and limits
ClinicalTrials.gov	US searches and individual studies to follow	Search, filters, and saved study records to check for updates	Public resource; do not assume saved studies send automatic search alerts
WHO ICTRP	Broader international searching across data providers	Cross-registry search with filters such as country, status, date, and phase	Portal data are in English; follow results to source registries for details
CTIS public portal	Current EU/EEA trials under the Clinical Trials Regulation	Public search and trial map, including lay-language search	Public portal is for anyone; documented workspace alerts are for professional users
EU-CTR RSS	Matching older EU-CTR records	RSS items for matching trials added or updated in the prior seven days	Legacy register; does not replace CTIS for current CTR-system records

6. Verify a match before acting

Recruitment status: read the current status on the record. A trial can be registered without currently recruiting.
Location: confirm the listed site is practical for you and that it is the site relevant to the record.
Eligibility: review inclusion and exclusion criteria, but let the study team assess whether you may qualify.
Contact details: use the contact information in the registry record to ask whether the site is recruiting and what the next steps are.
Record source: for an aggregated result, follow it to the originating registry and use that record as the source for details.

ClinicalTrials.gov does not enroll participants or match them to studies. Contact the study directly and discuss participation questions with your healthcare professional.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely reason	What to do
No results for a condition	The registry may use a synonym, intervention term, or a broader condition label.	Try common synonyms and related terms. On ICTRP, combine terms and use its search guidance.
Too many irrelevant results	The search is broad or lacks geography and recruitment filters.	Add country or location, status, phase, age, or other relevant filters. Broaden again if you may be excluding useful trials.
A saved ClinicalTrials.gov study did not send an email	Saving a study is documented as a way to revisit and check it, not as a guaranteed automatic alert for every new search match.	Revisit saved records and search the registries directly for new matches.
An ICTRP result lacks contact information or detail	The portal brings together records from different data providers.	Follow the result to its originating registry and check the source record.
A CTIS notification option is unavailable	The documented alert function may belong to a sponsor or authority workspace rather than the public portal.	Use public CTIS search and the trial map; consult the public study record for contact details.
An EU-CTR RSS feed misses a record	The feed is described for matching records added or updated in the previous seven days and is scoped to the legacy register.	Check your search terms and the relevant source record. For current CTR-system trials, search CTIS.

Reliability, timing, and practical costs

Registry search is a monitoring workflow, not a guarantee that you will be notified immediately or that every registry has updated at the same time. The specific update window documented here is the EU-CTR RSS feed’s matching records from the previous seven days. WHO ICTRP combines provider data, so timing can vary by source. For an important decision, check the originating registry record and contact the study team.

The workflows described here use public registry search and saved records or RSS. No paid alert subscription is required by the cited guidance. The main cost is the time needed to maintain useful search terms, revisit records, and verify details. A narrow search saves review time but can miss records; use synonyms and broader searches if completeness matters.

Or skip the browser setup

ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server from ScreenshotNeo. It can capture registry pages as images or PDFs for documentation, but it does not search clinical-trial registries or create trial alerts. For trial updates, use the registry workflows above. If you need to capture a page, one GET request returns a screenshot:

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://clinicaltrials.gov/ -o shot.webp

See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. Cookie banners, popups, and chat widgets are removed before the shot; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are never billed. Its MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month with no card.

FAQ

Can ClinicalTrials.gov email me whenever a new trial matches my condition?

The official patient guidance supports saving individual studies and checking them for updates; it does not establish saved studies as automatic email alerts for every new matching trial.

Does a new registry record mean the trial is recruiting?

No. Registration and recruitment status are separate details. Check the current status on the study record and contact the site.

Which source should I use for a trial in Europe?

Use CTIS for current trials under the EU Clinical Trials Regulation. EU-CTR can be relevant to older Directive-era records and documents an RSS feed with a seven-day matching update window.

Can WHO ICTRP tell me whether I qualify?

No. It helps search registry records. Review the eligibility criteria and contact the study team; the team determines whether you may qualify.