1. Scope of guidance:
• Guideline for guidelines
• Guideline for research & publication
2. Stage of research:
   • Conduct of health research (study)
     • Study design, implementation, and/or analysis/reporting
     • In-process monitoring and/or (quality) audit
     • Human subjects protection
   • Report of research findings
   • Publication/dissemination of research findings (report)
   • Evaluation of research (report)
     • Audit (validation) of completed study
     • Investigation (regarding fraud, abuse, etc)
3. Type of research:
   • Primary
     • Descriptive surveys
     • Methodological studies
     • Analytic observational studies
     • Clinical trials and intervention studies
   • Secondary
     • Information synthesis
     • Data mining (secondary use of data).

Ratified research guidelines for conducting research or reporting (primary or secondary) research may (or may not) be suitable to evaluate the quality of (reported) research (study).