Blog
Practical guides for medical research
In-depth, no-fluff articles on literature search, systematic reviews, novelty checks, and the parts of clinical research nobody teaches you formally. Written for medical students and residents.
How to Write a PubMed Search String That Actually Finds Everything
Boolean operators, MeSH headings, field tags, and truncation explained with a worked example. The patterns that close the gap between a beginner search and a librarian-grade search.
The Complete Beginner's Guide to Conducting a Systematic Review
A realistic, step-by-step walkthrough from question framing to synthesis — including the timelines and pitfalls nobody warns you about.
PICO, PECO, and SPIDER: Choosing the Right Framework for Your Research Question
Same idea reformulated in three frameworks. When to use which, with a one-question decision tree.
How to Check if Your Research Idea Has Already Been Done
A 20-minute pre-flight check using PubMed, Cochrane, and PROSPERO that prevents months of duplicated work.
What Is PROSPERO and Why You Must Check It Before Starting a Review
What PROSPERO is, how to search and register, and how to interpret an in-progress competitor protocol.
Identifying a Genuine Research Gap: Population, Methodological, Temporal, and Comparator Gaps
Five gap types defined with concrete examples, plus how to verify a candidate gap is real before you commit a project to it.
How to Read and Critically Appraise a Medical Research Paper
The IMRaD structure, the five questions for the methods section, and the red flags that separate strong papers from spun ones.
Choosing the Right Databases: PubMed vs Embase vs Cochrane vs Scopus vs Web of Science
Coverage, strengths, overlap, and why PubMed alone is rarely enough for a real systematic review.
From Idea to Publishable Study: How to Assess Feasibility Before You Commit
Five dimensions of feasibility — data, sample size, time, ethics, and skills — with a worksheet you can fill in before committing.
Common Mistakes Medical Students Make When Planning Their First Research Project
Twelve patterns that quietly stall student projects and the fixes that prevent each one.