Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-zlgnt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T14:05:32.270Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 1 - The Foundations

from Section 1 - Principles of Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2025

Dawn N. Albertson
Affiliation:
University of New Hampshire
Derek K. Tracy
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Dan W. Joyce
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Sukhwinder S. Shergill
Affiliation:
Kent and Medway Medical School
Get access

Summary

Research involvement is good for both patients and clinicians. In healthcare organisations that are research active, not only are mortality outcomes better, but clinicians are happier and retention rates better. In this chapter we consider how early career clinicians can involve themselves in research, for the benefit of your clinical practice and your patients. It is important to foster early exposure to research, which also makes further involvement in research a less intimidating venture. The only warning attached to that is that once you’ve had a taste of research involvement, and seen your first publication in print, you may find it hard to leave it behind! Establishing research skills early in one’s career can have advantages; firstly, it encourages critical thinking on how to approach any patient, their presenting difficulties and the selection of appropriate interventions. Further, being able to appraise the expanding and complex (and often contradictory) evidence base is a vital skill any clinician will utilise throughout their career. Finally, it is, or can be, enormous fun!

Keywords

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Research Methods in Mental Health
A Comprehensive Guide
, pp. 1 - 14
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Further Reading

Critchley, H., Tracy, D., Mahli, G.S. et al. Academic Psychiatry is everyone’s business. BJPsych, E-pub ahead of print, 16 Oct 2024.Google Scholar
Mayo, M, Rockey, J. Don, C. et al. Development of a successful scholarly activity and research program for subspecialty trainees. American Journal of the Medical Sciences 350, 222–7 (2015).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

References

Altman, D. G. The scandal of poor medical research. BMJ 308, 283–4 (1994). https://doi.org:10.1136/bmj.308.6924.283CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chalmers, I. & Glasziou, P. Avoidable waste in the production and reporting of research evidence. Lancet 374, 86–9 (2009). https://doi.org:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60329-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dyer, C. Lancet retracts Wakefield’s MMR paper. BMJ 340, c696 (2010). https://doi.org:10.1136/bmj.c696CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlisle, J. B. The analysis of 168 randomised controlled trials to test data integrity. Anaesthesia 67, 521–37 (2012). https://doi.org:10.1111/j.1365-2044.2012.07128.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlisle, J. B. Data fabrication and other reasons for non-random sampling in 5087 randomised, controlled trials in anaesthetic and general medical journals. Anaesthesia 72, 944–52 (2017). https://doi.org:10.1111/anae.13938CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnett, A. Publication bias or research misconduct? (2022). https://medianwatch.netlify.app/post/z_values/Google Scholar
van Zweet, E. W. & Cater, E. A. The significance filter, the winner’s curse and the need to shrink. Statistica Neerlandica 75, 437–52 (2021). https://doi.org:https://medianwatch.netlify.app/post/z_values/CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fanelli, D.Positive’ results increase down the hierarchy of the sciences. PLoS One 5, e10068 (2010). https://doi.org:10.1371/journal.pone.0010068CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
The Royal Society. The scientific century: securing our future prosperity. The Royal Society, London, UK (2010).Google Scholar
Serra-Garcia, M. & Gneezy, U. Nonreplicable publications are cited more than replicable ones. Scientific Advances 7 (2021). https://doi.org:10.1126/sciadv.abd1705Google ScholarPubMed
Miranda, R. & Garcia-Carpintero, E. Overcitation and overrepresentation of review papers in the most cited papers. Journal of Informetrics 12, 1015–30 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brembs, B. Prestigious science journals struggle to reach even average reliability. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 12, 37 (2018). https://doi.org:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00037Google ScholarPubMed
Brembs, B., Button, K. & Munafo, M. Deep impact: unintended consequences of journal rank. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7, 291 (2013). https://doi.org:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00291CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munafo, M. R. et al. 5-HTTLPR genotype and anxiety-related personality traits: a meta-analysis and new data. American Journal of Medical Genetics B Neuropsychiatry Genetics 150B, 271–81 (2009). https://doi.org:10.1002/ajmg.b.30808Google ScholarPubMed
Biagioli, M. Watch out for cheats in citation game. Nature 535, 201 (2016). https://doi.org:10.1038/535201aCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plummer, S. et al. Trends in the number of authors and institutions in papers published in AJPE 2015–2019. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 87, ajpe8972 (2023). https://doi.org:10.5688/ajpe8972CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Else, H. Multimillion-dollar trade in paper authorships alarms publishers. Nature 613, 617–18 (2023). https://doi.org:10.1038/d41586-023-00062-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freakonomics. January 8, 2023. Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth. Why do we cheat, and why shouldn’t we? Episode 129. https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-do-we-cheat-and-why-shouldnt-we/Google Scholar
Freakonomics. February 14, 2021. Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth. Is everybody cheating these days? Episode 39. https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-everybody-cheating-these-days/Google Scholar
Steen, R. G., Casadevall, A. & Fang, F. C. Why has the number of scientific retractions increased? PLoS One 8, e68397 (2013). https://doi.org:10.1371/journal.pone.0068397CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Noorden, R. More than 10,000 research papers were retracted in 2023 – a new record. Nature 624, 479–81 (2023). https://doi.org:10.1038/d41586-023-03974-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moriarty, P. in Times Higher Education. The Times, London, UK (2015).Google Scholar
Parr, C. (November 30, 2014). Death by academic pressure. Times Higher Education. The Times, London, UK.Google Scholar
Goldacre, B. et al. COMPare: a prospective cohort study correcting and monitoring 58 misreported trials in real time. Trials 20, 118 (2019). https://doi.org:10.1186/s13063-019-3173-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trinquart, L., Dunn, A. G. & Bourgeois, F. T. Registration of published randomized trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine 16, 173 (2018). https://doi.org:10.1186/s12916-018-1168-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Samaan, Z. et al. A systematic scoping review of adherence to reporting guidelines in health care literature. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare 6, 169–88 (2013). https://doi.org:10.2147/JMDH.S43952Google ScholarPubMed
Cochrane. Methods priority setting (2024). https://methods.cochrane.org/prioritysetting/Google Scholar
Center for Open Science. A decade of impact. Shaping a positive research culture (2024). https://www.cos.ioGoogle Scholar
Center for Open Science. The TOP Guidelines were created by journals, funders, and societies to align scientific ideals with practices (2024). www.cos.io/initiatives/top-guidelinesGoogle Scholar
OSF. There’s a better way to manage your research (2024). https://osf.ioGoogle Scholar
Norris, E. & O’Connor, D.B. Science as behaviour: using a behaviour change approach to increase uptake of open science. Psychological Health 34, 1397–406 (2019). https://doi.org:10.1080/08870446.2019.1679373CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacKinac Center for Public Policy. The Overton Window (2024). www.mackinac.org/OvertonWindowGoogle Scholar

Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.0 A

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

The PDF of this book conforms to version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), ensuring core accessibility principles are addressed and meets the basic (A) level of WCAG compliance, addressing essential accessibility barriers.

Content Navigation

Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.

Reading Order & Textual Equivalents

Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.

Visual Accessibility

Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.

Structural and Technical Features

ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×