2026-10-07
Is my thesis idea already done? How to check before you register it
Few things are more painful than registering a thesis and then finding the same study published last year. A 30-minute check before registration saves months. Here is how to do it properly.
1. Write your idea as PICO first
You cannot search well for a vague idea. Write the Patients, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome (see our guide on choosing a thesis idea). Your search will combine P AND I, then look at C and O.
2. Search PubMed properly
- Use synonyms for each part, joined with OR: "neck pain" OR cervicalgia.
- Join the parts with AND: (neck pain OR cervicalgia) AND (deep neck flexor OR craniocervical flexion).
- Use MeSH terms too — they catch studies that use other words.
- Watch the spelling variants: craniovertebral vs cranio-vertebral, physiotherapy vs physical therapy.
Read titles first, then abstracts. Note every study that has the same P and I.
3. Look for systematic reviews
Search the Cochrane Library and PubMed with "systematic review". If a recent review answers your exact question with high certainty, the question is answered. If the review says the evidence is low quality or inconsistent, a better trial is still needed — and that is a valid gap you can quote in your introduction.
4. Check trials that are running now
A study can be ongoing and unpublished. Search ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO ICTRP and, for Africa, PACTR. If someone registered the same trial last year, change one part of your idea.
5. Check your own faculty
Ask the library or the postgraduate office for the list of previous theses. A thesis done at your faculty three years ago is the most common reason a committee rejects an idea.
What if it has been done?
It is not the end. Change one part of the PICO:
- a different population (older adults, athletes, women after childbirth);
- a different outcome (balance instead of pain, function instead of range of motion);
- a different comparison (against another active treatment, not only control);
- a longer follow-up (6 months instead of 4 weeks).
A study that repeats a question in a new population or with a better design is still original work.
Check it in a few minutes with Neura
Neura's "Check my idea" does this search for you in PubMed and Europe PMC with a proper strategy (synonyms, MeSH terms, spelling variants), checks ongoing trials, and shows an evidence map: how many studies test your whole idea, how many study the same patients and treatment with other outcomes, and what is still open. Every count links to the studies, so you and your supervisor can read them. You get 3 free checks every day.
Summary: PICO → PubMed with synonyms and MeSH → systematic reviews → trial registries → your faculty's theses → if done, change one part.