Establish what is known
The future of UK Clinical Research
Establish what is known and which trials are already being done
ISRCTN Current Controlled Trials Register (ISRCTN)
Clinicaltrials.gov US Government Clinical Trials Register
CENTRAL Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
The WHO clinical trials Metaregister
James Lind Alliance Stroke Research Priorities UK 2021
Based on a survey of over 1400 stroke survivors, carers, and professionals working with stroke patients a list priorites for stroke research for the next 10 years has been compiled. Please click here to see the results.
Trial Registration
Register your trial on the ISRCTN current controlled trials register or on AllTrials. The R&D department will register the trial for free once all approvals have been given.
Literature search
PubMed searches and regular email updates of the selected topics
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Is my project audit or research?
MRC/ NHS Health Research Authority decision tool for audit versus research
Develop a research protocol
Protocol guidance and template for use in qualitative research
SPIROS Standard Protocol Items for Observational Studies start with the checklist
NIHR Study Support Service Check this out early in the study planning stage
Calculate the sample size for your trial
Use this link if your main outcome is a proportion.
Use this link if your main outcome is a mean.
Qualitative Research
Quick guide to qualitative research
Introduction to qualitative research methods
How to do a systematic review
Five steps to conducting a systematic review read this first for key principles
PROPSPERO Register your systematic review once protocol finalized
PRISMA checklist and guidance for systematic reviews and meta-analysis
GRADE Cochrane risk of Bias tool, Jadad, and JBI are tools for assessing risk of bias
Doing a systematic review. A concise guidebook for Masters students by Rumona Dickson.
QUADAS tools to assess bias and diagnostic accuracy in tests used in systematic reviews
Evidence appraisal and grading of recommendations
Oxford centre for evidence based medicine levels of evidence and grade of recommendation
Assessing diagnostic tests
Research Funding
NIHR Grant Finder (Program Grant, HTA, EME, i4i, Health Service Research, NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund, Fellowships)
Research Professional website to track potential funders
Keele GrantFinder
The Stroke Association
Wellcome Trust
British Heart Foundation
Dunhill Medical Trust
BMA Foundation
Post-doc fellowships
NIHR
The Stroke Association
The Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship
Dunhill Medical Trust
Francis Crick Institute
Writing a grant application
10 key sentences for grant applications by Parker Derrington
Writing up
Getting started Writing a research paper: advice for beginners
ICJME International Committee for Medical Journal Editors Recommendations for writing articles (The Uniform Requirement).
ICH GCP guidance on structure and content of clinical study reports (E3). Consult this on detailed guidance on how to write up research reports (MSc, thesis, research paper).
Clinical Trials: The CONSORT statement is an important research tool that takes an evidence-based approach to improve the quality of reports of randomized trials. The CONSORT flow chart shows how recruitment and study drop outs should be reported. This document must be consulted before recruitment starts and at write-up stage. The CONSORT check list gives prompts to all the information to be included in a research report. More information on each item in the list can be gained by clicking on underlined terms. Recent extensions guide reporting of pragmatic trials.
Observational Studies: The STROBE statement is provides guidance for the reporting of observational studies. This includes case series, cohort studies and cross sectional studies.
Case Reports: Guidance on writing case reports
Statistics
Most simple statistics (mean, median, SD, t-test) can be done using the Excel functions. Links to common tests not found in Excel are below.
Online Chi Squared 2×2 test calculator
Online Calculators for a wide range of tests eg Mann Whitney, ANOVA, Friedman, Krulsal-Wallis
Regression analysis/ developing models for prognostication
Figures and tables
How to present figures and tables in a scientific paper or in a thesis
References
Full guide to citation conventions for Vancouver, Harvard and other conventions
Most medical journals use Vancouver (example below)
Name AA, Name BB…… . Title. Journal (abbreviated). Year;volume(issue)page-page.
Optionally, the article’s unique identifier (DOI or PMID) may be added to the citation.
Resources for PhD/ DM students
Keele Research Support Links to resources from project development to completion
Guidance and forms for submssion of postgraduate theses (PhD, MD, DM Prof Doc)
Postgraduate Research Examination Handbook
Research Governance ensures the delivery of high quality research. Every student should read this before embarking on research.
Resources for Medical Students
Keele guidance for medical students interested in research. Best to get started in y3. Research Opportunities for Keele Medical students