Templates
Word templates for every step from question to publication, in the Neudata house style. They are generic: replace [Institution], [Ethics committee name] and the other [grey placeholders] with your own details. Each Word file has a matching PDF for printing.
| File | Purpose | Used in | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research proposal template | Each participant’s own research proposal and publication plan, built in four parts. Part 1 covers the working title, problem, PICO, question, FINER, objectives and references. Part 2 covers design, population, outcomes and bias. Part 3 covers variables, the mini-CRF, data dictionary, data management and quality plan, sample size, analysis plan and missing-data plan. Part 4 covers ethics and consent, registration, confidentiality, feasibility (Gantt, budget, recruitment) and a publication plan: target journal and reporting guideline, authorship and CRediT roles, working title and a structured-abstract skeleton. Every section has guidance, a running-example illustration and a placeholder. The finished proposal should be about 6–8 pages. | Part 1 S1-S2 · Part 2 S3-S4 · Part 3 S5-S6 · Part 4 S7 · submitted in S8 | Word · PDF |
| Literature review worksheet | Turns the PICO into a search-terms grid (synonyms, MeSH, Boolean). Includes a search log, an evidence matrix (landscape) with two worked rows from the course papers, a “known / gap” summary and five key references. | S2 (2.1 Finding the evidence, 2.4 literature matrix; proposal Part 1) | Word · PDF |
| CRF + data dictionary template | A case report form built on good CRF design principles, with example items for the running example: eligibility, demographics, SOFA and lactate, daily fluids in and out with cumulative balance (ml/kg), and day-28 vital status. A data dictionary follows on a landscape page. | S5 (5.1 Good data by design; proposal Part 3) | Word · PDF |
| Statistical analysis plan template | SAP written before data lock, with 14 sections: summary and objectives; outcome definitions; analysis populations; descriptive analysis (Table 1); primary analysis; secondary analyses; confounders and adjustment; pre-specified subgroups and interaction; multiple comparisons; missing data (assessment, complete-case vs imputation, sensitivity); sample size; software; table and figure shells; version history and sign-off. The guidance uses the running example, and a worked SAP for the course dataset is in SAP for FLUID-ICU. | S6 (6.4; proposal Part 3) | Word · PDF |
| Study protocol template | SPIRIT-style protocol for an observational study or a simple trial: administrative information, synopsis, background, objectives, design, participants, interventions/exposures, outcomes, schedule of assessments, sample size, allocation/blinding, data management, statistics, monitoring/safety, ethics/consent, confidentiality, dissemination, funding, references and appendices. | S7 (7.1 Protocol, ethics and consent); take-home | Word · PDF |
| Informed consent template | A plain-language participant information sheet (13 question headings) and consent form. It covers initials boxes, signatures for the participant, the person taking consent, an impartial witness and a legal representative, and continuing (deferred) consent. Guidance boxes cover readability and ICU or emergency consent. | S7 (7.1); take-home | Word · PDF |
| Manuscript template (IMRaD) | An original-research manuscript. It contains a title page, structured abstract and keywords, then an Introduction (3-paragraph funnel) and Methods with subheadings. Results start with participant flow; the Discussion follows six moves (answer, compare, explain, limitations, implications, conclude), then the Conclusion. Declarations cover ethics, consent, registration, funding, competing interests, data availability, AI use and a CRediT contribution grid. References, table shells and a flow-diagram shell follow, plus a reporting-guideline reminder box (CONSORT, STROBE, STARD, PRISMA, EQUATOR). Each participant uses it for their own FLUID-ICU course-dataset manuscript on one of the questions Q1 to Q5 (manuscript brief). | S7 (7.3, Methods + Results) and S8 (8.1, rest of the draft) | Word · PDF |
| Cover letter template | A one-page journal cover letter on a letterhead block for your institution. It has placeholders for the question, main finding, why this journal, and the standard statements (originality, ethics, registration, reporting checklist, competing interests). Optional suggested reviewers. | S8 (8.2 Getting published) | Word · PDF |
| Response-to-reviewers template | Tone and method guidance, a letter to the editor, three worked fictional rows (two agreements and one polite disagreement), and point-by-point tables (comment / response / change made with page and line) for the editor and two reviewers. | S8 (8.2); individual peer review after S8 | Word · PDF |
| Conference abstract and poster template | A 250–300-word structured abstract with word budgets per section and a fictional example. Page 2 is a poster layout guide: a three-column grid sketch and rules for text size, words, figures and colours. | S8 (8.2) | Word · PDF |
Tips. Use Ctrl + H → Find [ to step through the placeholders. To delete all the grey guidance at once: Home → Styles, right-click Guidance (or Example), Select All, Delete. For a consent form, cover letter or manuscript, replace the Neudata header with your institution’s letterhead or the journal’s format.