Providing easy-to-access information, this unique sourcebook covers the wide range of topics that a researcher must be familiar with in order to become a successful experimental scientist. Perfect for aspiring as well as practicing professionals in the medical and biological sciences it discusses a broad range of topics that are common, yet not traditionally considered part of formal curricula. The information presented also facilitates communication across conventional disciplinary boundaries, in line with the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of modern research projects.

PrefaceContributorsList of Abbreviations and SymbolsChapter 1 Philosophy of Science 1.1 Philosophy of the Natural Sciences 1.2 Philosophy of The Social SciencesChapter 2 Ethics and Scientific Conduct 2.1 A Brief Introduction to Ethics 2.2 Scientific Conduct and Misconduct 2.3 Misconduct and Why It Occurs 2.4 Fabrication and Other Forms of Misconduct Affecting the Truth Claims of Scientific Findings 2.5 Authorship Issues 2.6 Salami, Imalas and Duplicate Publication 2.7 The Investigation and Punishment of Scientific Misconduct Appendix 1Chapter 3 Ethics in Human and Animal Studies 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Basic Principles of Human Research Ethics 3.3 International Regulation 3.4 The Ethics of Animal Research Appendix 1 World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Appendix 2 Oviedo Convention (Council of Europe, European Treaty Series 164) Appendix 3 Oviedo Convention - Additional Protocol Concerning Biomedical Research, Chapter I-IX (Council of Europe, European Treaty Series 195)Chapter 4 Research Methodology: Strategies, Planning and Analysis 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Your Scientific Problem 4.3 More On Scientific Problems 4.4 Literature, Methods and Techniques 4.5 Research Conditions 4.6 Data Types 4.7 Techniques 4.8 Repeatability, Reproducibility and Reliability 4.9 Validity, Effect Measure and Choice of Statistical Test 4.10 Experimental Protocol 4.11 Experimental RoutineChapter 5 Literature Search and Personal Reference Databases 5.1 Information Literacy 5.2 Systematic Literature Search 5.3 How to Formulate a Query: PICO 5.4 Search Technique 5.5 Methodology Filters 5.6 Quality: Critical Appraisal 5.7 Impact Factor 5.8 Principal Bibliographic Databases 5.9 Staying Up to Date 5.10 Medical and Scientific Internet Search Engines 5.11 Personal Reference DatabasesChapter 6 Methods in Molecular Biology 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Recombinant DNA Technology 6.3 DNA and RNA: Isolation, Identification, Synthesis and Analysis 6.4 Practical Applications of DNA/RNA Technology 6.5 Protein Analyses 6.6 BioinformaticsChapter 7 Strategies and Methods of Basic Medical Research 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Long-Term Goals and Specific Aims 7.3 Background and Significance 7.4 Experimental Strategies and Methods 7.5 Pilot Studies 7.6 Rules for Basic Medical Research ProjectsChapter 8 Clinical Research 8.1 Controlled Clinical Trials 8.2 Publication Bias 8.3 Estimating Sample Size 8.4 'Non-Inferiority' Studies 8.5 GeneralizationChapter 9 Epidemiology: Concepts and Methods 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Definitions 9.3 The Role of Epidemiology 9.4 Population and Sample 9.5 Measures of Disease Occurrence, Association, Risk and Implications 9.6 Vital Statistics 9.7 Study Designs of Epidemiological Studies 9.8 Effect Measures in Epidemiological Studies 9.9 Experimental Studies and Randomized Control Trials 9.10 Measurement Error and Sources of Error 9.11 Tests and Validity 9.12 Causes of Disease 9.13 Association Versus CausalityChapter 10 Qualitative Research 10.1 Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research 10.2 Using Qualitative Research 10.3 What Qualitative Research Cannot be Used for 10.4 Samples in Qualitative Studies 10.5 Reliability and Validity 10.6 Ethical Challenges in Qualitative Research 10.7 Qualitative Data Collection 10.8 Triangulation 10.9 Analyses of Qualitative Data 10.10 Releasing Qualitative DataChapter 11 Statistical Issues 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Effect Measure, Hypothesis Testing and Confidence Interval 11.3 Bernoulli Trial 11.4 Comparing Two Proportions 11.5 Measures of Association in 2 x 2 Tables 11.6 Normal Distribution 11.7 Comparison of Means 11.8 Non-Parametric Methods 11.9 Regression AnalysisChapter 12 Evidence-Based Practice and Critical Appraisal of Systematic Reviews 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Systematic Reviews 12.3 Critical Appraisal of a Systematic Review: One Example 12.4 SummaryChapter 13 Scientific Communication 13.1 Introduction 13.2 The Scientific Paper 13.3 PostersChapter 14 Successful Lecturing 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Preparing the Lecture 14.3 Lecture Content and Form 14.4 Manuscript 14.5 Delivering a LectureChapter 15 Guide to Grant Applications 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Getting Started 15.3 The Postdoctoral Fellow and Junior Scientist 15.4 What Goes into a Successful Grant Application? 15.5 The Investigator-Initiated Research Grant 15.6 Multiproject Grants 15.7 International Research Collaborations 15.8 The European Union's Seventh Framework Program 15.9 Summary and PerspectiveIndex