Data Entry, Validation, and Access Control: Orientation

Data entry is the process through which clinical research observations, measurements, assessments, and documents become structured data in a research database. Although the phrase may sound simple, data entry is a critical stage in the research lifecycle. It is the point at which protocol-defined information is transferred from clinical practice, laboratory work, participant interviews, field activities, or source records into a system that will eventually support monitoring, analysis, reporting, and archival.