Medical research from idea to publication
Procedural guides for students, fellows and clinicians. Each guide includes prerequisites, approval/governance checkpoints, detailed steps, analysis/reporting requirements, common errors and a final checklist.
Mediclinic and local-authority requirements will be linked to the relevant step once verified. No guide should be used to self-declare that ethics or governance approval is unnecessary.
Start a Research Project
Answer six questions to get a suggested design pathway, governance flags and exact next steps.
Open the pathway →ONBOARDINGNew Researcher / Student
A first-days guide for someone joining a project and unsure what to read, ask, access or do.
Start onboarding →Plan your project
Start Here
A practical path from a research idea to a defensible study, approval, analysis and publication.
Full step-by-step guideResearch Question Development
Convert a broad topic into an answerable PICO/PECO/PCC or qualitative question with a defined primary outcome.
Full step-by-step guideLiterature Searching
A reproducible workflow for finding evidence without relying on one search box or an undocumented list of keywords.
Full step-by-step guideWriting a Protocol
A protocol template that forces the important decisions to be made before the study begins.
Full step-by-step guideResearch Ethics & Governance
A practical decision framework for participant protection, consent, data privacy and institutional approval without self-declaring exemption.
Full step-by-step guideChoose and understand a design
Case Report
A complete workflow for turning one clinically informative case into a publishable report while protecting the patient.
Full step-by-step guideCase Series
A structured description of multiple related clinical cases, with explicit case definition and transparent selection.
Full step-by-step guideCross-Sectional Study
A full workflow for estimating prevalence or studying associations measured during a defined period.
Full step-by-step guideCase-Control Study
A detailed guide to selecting valid cases and controls, measuring prior exposure and analysing odds of exposure without introducing avoidable bias.
Full step-by-step guideCohort Study
A detailed workflow for prospective or retrospective follow-up of exposed/unexposed groups and estimation of outcomes over time.
Full step-by-step guideRandomised Controlled Trial
A full trial pathway from feasibility and protocol through registration, ethics, randomisation, conduct, analysis and CONSORT 2025 reporting.
Full step-by-step guideDiagnostic Accuracy Study
A full design and reporting pathway for evaluating an index test against an appropriate reference standard.
Full step-by-step guideQualitative Research
A practical pathway for rigorous interviews, focus groups or other qualitative approaches, including reflexivity, consent and transparent analysis.
Full step-by-step guideClinical Audit & Quality Improvement
A structured pathway for measuring care against standards or testing improvements, while correctly determining whether the work is audit, QI, service evaluation or research.
Full step-by-step guideReview and synthesise evidence
Systematic Review
A reproducible end-to-end workflow from question and protocol to search, screening, risk of bias, synthesis and PRISMA 2020 reporting.
Full step-by-step guideMeta-analysis
A practical statistical workflow for pooling study results only when the underlying studies are sufficiently compatible.
Full step-by-step guideScoping Review
A complete workflow for mapping a broad evidence field using JBI methodology and PRISMA-ScR reporting.
Full step-by-step guideNarrative Review
How to produce a focused, useful scholarly review without falsely presenting it as a systematic review.
Full step-by-step guideConduct, write and share
Data Collection & Management
Design a data dictionary, collection form, privacy controls, quality checks and analysis-ready dataset.
Full step-by-step guideStatistics Planning
A pre-analysis framework for defining outcomes, estimands, models, missing data and sensitivity analyses before results are known.
Full step-by-step guideWriting a Manuscript
A structured workflow for converting completed research into a transparent paper that matches the study design and journal.
Full step-by-step guidePublication Process
From a final manuscript to journal selection, submission, peer review, acceptance and institutional publication tracking.
Full step-by-step guideAbstracts, Posters & Presentations
Conference submission, poster and oral-presentation workflow with dissemination and privacy checkpoints.
Full step-by-step guide