A practical guide to research: design, execution, and publication.

Why Is a research Methods Handbook Needed? Why is this work needed, and who would benefit from it? First of all, we must realize that this work is on a high but at the same time moderate level. The aim is to put together a Research Methods Handbook that can be of practical help to those writing manuscripts for submission to Arthroscopy and similar journals. We are referring to people working full time, taking care of patients, with busy outpatient clinics and fully booked surgical schedules. These are persons who do not devote the majority of their time to research. And in most cases they do not have any major training in scientific research methods. Since sound research methods are the backbone of a good study, the methods must be solid to ensure that the results are valid. If the methods are not good from the beginning, the outcome will not be good either, and the manuscript will not be published despite the investigator's best effort. The purpose of this Research Methods Handbook is to provide basic information about common research techniques, how to conduct a good study, how to write a manuscript and, we hope, how to get it published. The work is divided into several sections, starting with an overview on evidence-based medicine; much-needed information for all clinicians. The second section is concerned with study methods, with special focus on study designs. Important scientific methods, like CONSORT and STROBE, are explained in greater detail. The third section is on biostatistics. This section is very practical, written with the clinician in mind. Common statistical methods are explained and the aim is to stay practical and pragmatic. We are still clinicians and not statisticians. And the idea is to help clinicians who are conducting a study and not to make them statisticians. The last section is on manuscript writing. Pearls and pitfalls are discussed and tips are given. We dare say that if you follow these simple guidelines, you will have a much greater chance of getting your manuscript published. A few words of thanks. First and foremost we thank Michele Johnson, ISAKOS Executive Director, who helped out with all practical details and negotiated all necessary contracts. At Arthroscopy, Managing Editor Hank Hackett and Jason Miller from Elsevier made things happen. Special thanks to Hank for his professional editing work on all chapters, keeping track of the time frame, and all other practical details. This work is an ISAKOS project, done on behalf of the ISAKOS Scientific Committee, and we would like to thank all Committee members, many of them co-authors, for their part in getting this done. Special thanks to Mario Ferretti, Stephan Lyman, Rob LaPrade, Bruce Levy, Nick Mohtadi, Kevin Shea, Michael Soudry, and Stefano Zaffagnini. We also extend our thanks to all other co-authors, with special thanks to Sabine Goldhahn. Mohit Bhandari, one of the greatest clinician researchers we have ever met, deserves special thanks; without his work, this project would never have been possible. Finally, Gary Poehling and James Lubowitz, Editor-in-Chief and Assistant Editor-in-Chief of Arthroscopy, supported the project from the start and shared their knowledge and vast experience in the section on manuscript writing. Thank you both. We hope that the readers of Arthroscopy as well as other journals will benefit from this work.