Secondary and post-hoc manuscript

The job

Communicate a question derived from an existing study while preserving its relationship to the original design, primary analysis, and prior publications.

Extra controls

• State whether the question and analysis were prespecified.
• Identify multiplicity and subgroup limitations.
• Explain relation to primary objectives and publications.
• Prevent retrospective rationale from sounding prospective.
• Avoid fragmenting one evidence story into redundant papers without distinct value.

The conclusion should make the analysis useful without converting it into confirmation. “These findings support further study” may be more faithful than a practice recommendation.