15 Mistakes Young Researchers Make

Science from the inside is a lot of hard work, failures and frustration. Publication is the culmination of parts of experiments that did not go astray. As such, one would hope that it signifies the amount of novel knowledge that scientists were able to infer from experiments that were neither flawed in design nor in application. At best, publication demonstrates a faultless scientific process.

But a flawless scientific process is easier said than achieved. Lack of experience, poor judgment, inadequate knowledge and cruel bad luck are unwelcome visitors, especially to us, the young researchers.

It is of particular importance to us then, to learn from our mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. It's normal. It's part of the learning process. Having started my research year without any prior exposure to scientific research or laboratory training, I messed up more or less every experiment I initially attempted. I learnt that science is as tough and painful as it (ultimately) is rewarding. Being able to identify and rectify the mistakes we made though translates into added experience and knowledge. And better experiments in the future. This is what we should thrive to do. So, young researchers should not be too discouraged by hiccups that may occur at first. Instead, we should focus on learning from them.

This is the fundamental take-away message of Clark and Mulligan's recent paper published this year in the Journal of Prosthodontic Research. In the paper, the authors stress on the fact that young researchers should make a conscious effort to "study, understand and rigorously avoid the common mistakes" we are too often deemed to commit. They go on stating that "failure to do so means the hundreds and hundreds of hours of effort it takes to conduct and write up" will essentially be for naught.

The paper then goes on to list 15 common mistakes young researchers make in clinical research-mistakes which can as easily be made in any many other areas of scientific research:

1. Failure to carefully examine the literature for similar research
2. Failure to critically assess the prior literature
3. Failure to specify the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the subjects
4. Failure to determine and report the error of measurement methods
5. Failure to specify exact statistical assumptions made in the analysis
6. Failure to perform sample size analysis before the study begins
7. Failure to implement adequate bias control measures
8. Failure to write and stick to a detailed time line
9. Failure to vigorously recruit and retain subjects
10. Failure to have a detailed, written and vetted protocol
11. Failure to examine for normality of data
12. Failure to report missing data, dropped subjects and use of an intention to treat analysis
13. Failure to perform and report power calculations
14. Failure to point out the weaknesses of own study
15. Failure to understand and use correct scientific language.

Granted, more than half of the mistakes listed are related to a fundamental misfiring in statistics. It is thus safe to say that statistics-a fundamental part of any scientific study-must be properly inculcated in young researchers. The remaining common mistakes, not related to statistics misconception, appear to stem primarily from lack of experience on the academic front.

The authors of the paper do not provide any data to illustrate how prominent these common mistakes they list are. Which is perhaps ironic! Regardless, the authors have comprehensively brought to our attention a number of mistakes that we make. Now, it's our duty as researchers-albeit young ones-to remedy to the situation and get better at doing science.

Image credit: Antony Theobald (from flickr)

Reference:

Clark GT, & Mulligan R (2011). Fifteen common mistakes encountered in clinical research. Journal of prosthodontic research, 55, 1-6 PMID: 21095178