[How to improve research projects, a lifeline of contemporary scientific research]

A research project is a document showing in a pre-determined order the ideas proposed by an investigator or a group of investigators who want to pursue actions with the explicit purpose of increasing or correcting current knowledge in a specific scientific subject. This document, generally used to apply for a research grant from a proper agency or institution, will be reviewed by a grants committee. The most relevant characteristics of the research project that will call the attention of the reviewers will be the purpose of the study proposed or the hypothesis to be tested; the methodology to be applied; the relevance of the subject and the expected results; the capability of the investigators and their collaborators to do the study, their background and experience in research; and the ethical aspects that may be involved. Precision and clarity are indispensable along the whole document. The author encourages novel investigators to devote enough time and effort in order to prepare a sound project following this outline, plus adding a reasonable touch of enthusiasm in their proposal, a characteristic that hopefully should be transmitted through the document to the reviewers and the evaluating committee.