Supporting researchers to maintain rigor and integrity

Research is key to defeating the Coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps never before has so much money been focused on a specific research agenda. But, producing good research is not easy. Clear expectations and plenty of funding certainly remove some barriers, but the challenge of formulating good research questions, identifying suitable methods, and then conducting the research rigorously and with integrity still remains. Given the social and political necessity of finding solutions to the COVID-19 crisis quickly, there is a real danger that rushed research may lead to bad research that in the long term causes more harm than good.