Pitfalls in neuroepidemiologic research

In neuroepidemiologic research, there are many pitfalls to trap unwary investigators, whether the project is a survey, a case-control study, or some other type of study. We briefly discuss pitfalls relating to: research preliminaries (e.g., failure to decide on study objectives); personnel and training (e.g., deficient training); data collection (e.g., ineffective supervision); data ownership and data sharing (disagreement about how the data will be used), and report preparation (e.g., failure to interpret results in the context of uncertainties arising from the design and implementation of the research). Awareness of these pitfalls will reduce the likelihood of flawed or ineffective neuroepidemiologic research.