From research question to dissemination: how to design, analyse and present study results Doing science

Today, the term "study" is very frequently used in quite a broad sense: survey, clinical trial, analysis, research and other terms with deeply different meanings are often generally indicated as "studies". A "study" can be generally defined as a process composed of several actions aimed to verify one or more hypotheses (objectives), with the ultimate goal of sharing the answers (results) with a target audience, in the form of a scientific paper, presentation or poster. For all research studies, the key for the success of a study lies in the careful design of all its different phases, from the statement of the objectives to the dissemination of the results. The different phases of a research study may be summarised as the following three parts: 1) design, 2) running, and 3) presentation of results. The setting of the three phases may differ depending on the type and the scope of the study; in the remainder of this article, a set of general guidelines are presented within the particular context of clinical studies