Joshua's Rules to Understanding Research

Rule 1: It's the data that matters.

Rule 2: Every researcher who violates these rules will have excuses as to why the violated them.  Ignore excuses.  This is especially true for researchers who don't have data or haven't run experiments.  Ignore all these excuses.

Rule 3: Actions always speak louder than words.

Rule 4: Successful research serves as the basis for other researchers.

Rule 6: A lack of progress is a sign of failing research.   (No news is bad news.)

Rule 9: A good study will never recruit patients for a non-blind trial from a biased group.  And even for a blind trial, this is not a good idea.

Rule 11: Except for early, pilot studies, a good study should have a control group.

Rule 12: It is an unfortunate truth, that medical trials are often funded by the exact companies trying to make money of the medicine being tested.  Therefore, such trials can not be ignored out of hand.

Rule 15: Except for early, pilot studies, a good study should not have experimental groups in different countries.

Rule 21: It is a bad thing, if there are no results numbers in the abstract.