Research Fundamentals: The Research Question, Outcomes, and Background

This first article in a three-part series on research fundamentals describes the purpose and importance of writing a research protocol a priori to the research study and discusses three components of a research protocol for a clinical, quantitative research study. These components include the research question, outcomes and the background section including a literature review. By using the author’s personal experience in writing and editing research protocols for international, peer-reviewed journals, and reviewing the literature on writing high quality research manuscripts, protocols and proposals, this three-part series provides a guideline for undergraduate researchers interested in publishing their research protocol in the Undergraduate Research in Natural and Clinical Sciences and Technology (URNCST) Journal.