{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T09:51:45Z","timestamp":1791366705634,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791331200000},"content-version":"am","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/journals\/pages\/open_access\/funder_policies\/chorus\/standard_publication_model"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>In the article by Fox et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 0000;000(00):0000\u20130000), they argue that research questions in epidemiology are too often unclear leading, in turn, to confusion regarding correlation and causation. I build on points made by Fox et al, arguing that the research question is equivalent to the destination on a train ticket: both tell us where we want to go. Just as we would be upset if we were issued a train ticket with an ambiguous destination, we should similarly be upset when reading an epidemiologic article with an unclear research question. I further leverage the analogy to show that research questions are statements about \u201cwhere we want to go\u201d not \u201cwhere we will end up\u201d. I end with a call that given the fundamental status of research questions in the research process, they deserve their own section in our research articles.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/aje\/kwag248","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T11:26:12Z","timestamp":1791199572000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Epidemiologic research questions are too often a ticket to nowhere"],"prefix":"10.1093","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1028-2158","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jeremy A","family":"Labrecque","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam , Rotterdam ,","place":["the Netherlands"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"container-title":["American Journal of Epidemiology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/aje\/advance-article-pdf\/doi\/10.1093\/aje\/kwag248\/71653352\/kwag248.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"am","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/aje\/advance-article-pdf\/doi\/10.1093\/aje\/kwag248\/71653352\/kwag248.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T09:06:46Z","timestamp":1791364006000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/aje\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/aje\/kwag248\/8873412"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/aje\/kwag248","relation":{},"ISSN":["0002-9262","1476-6256"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0002-9262","type":"print"},{"value":"1476-6256","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"article-number":"kwag248"}}