How to set up a psychedelic study: Unique considerations for research involving human participants.
Marcus J Glennon, Catherine I V Bird, Prateek Yadav, Patrick Kleine, Shayam Suseelan, Christina Boman-Markaki, Vasileia Kotoula, Matt Butler, Robert Leech, Leor Roseman, David Erritzoe, Deepak P Srivastava, Celia Morgan, Christopher Timmermann, Greg Cooper, Jeremy I Skipper, James Rucker, Sunjeev K Kamboj, Mitul A Mehta, Ravi K Das, Anjali Bhat
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews July 1, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2026.106657 via PubMed
Summary
Setting up a psychedelic study involves numerous challenges due to the unstandardised nature of the field, impacting areas such as psychiatric prescribing and the placebo effect. This review paper consolidates insights from major UK psychedelic research teams to address sociocultural, legal, pharmacological, and experiential aspects of conducting such studies. It aims to provide a comprehensive guide with recommendations for policymakers and future researchers.
Study at a glance
| Design | review |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The paper provides a comprehensive guide addressing unique considerations in setting up psychedelic studies, highlighting ongoing debates and offering recommendations for future research. |
Abstract
Setting up a psychedelic study can be a long, arduous, and Kafkaesque process. Researchers are faced with a host of challenges in this rapidly evolving field, necessitating a range of considerations that remain largely unstandardised. Many of the complexities inherent to psychedelic research also challenge existing assumptions around, for example, approaches to psychiatric prescribing, the conceptual framing of the placebo effect, and definitions of selfhood. This review paper aims to formalise these unique considerations by addressing the sociocultural, political, legal, pharmacological, safety, study design and experiential facets inherent to a psychedelic study. We bring together several of the major psychedelic research teams across the United Kingdom, identify continuing areas of debate, and provide a practical, comprehensive, experience-based guide, with recommendations for policymakers and future researchers intending to set up a psychedelic research study or clinical trial.