The archiving of clinical trial records is a required process that is in need of future direction to meet current business models as well as regulatory and legal expectations.  A group of industry experts coalesced under EUCROF and the eClinical Forum to formulate a position paper discussing the needs and proposed practical directions for archiving of clinical research. The full history of a clinical trial describes the conduct of the trial and the quality of the data produced. Changes in technology and the evolution of regulatory expectations on electronic systems over the past two decades have resulted in a situation where additional supplementary documentation is needed to reconstruct some clinical trial activities.