The aim of medical research is to advance scientific knowledge and hence—directly or
indirectly—lead to improvements in the treatment and prevention of disease. Each research
project should continue systematically from previous research and feed into future research.
Each project should contribute beneficially to a slowly evolving body of research. A study
should not mislead; otherwise it could adversely affect clinical practice and future research.
In 1994 I observed that research papers commonly contain methodological errors, report …