Recent advances in understanding the links between chronobiology and major depression have led to the development of new drugs that target the circadian system. One of these drugs, agomelatine, has been recently the focus of several scientific reports describing its new mechanism of action and potential clinical role in major depression, including reports published in high reputation and impact factor journals. We note that these scientific reports, despite being focused on new biological mechanisms, extensively presented and reviewed clinical trial data on agomelatine efficacy and safety, making strong claims of efficacy in favour of this new drug. This essay aims at raising awareness on the need to set a standard for reporting clinical data in articles dealing with basic science issues.
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