Learning to conduct good research demands a considerable investment in terms of time from a young investigator but this is sometimes difficult to achieve alongside studying or training. In 1989, the Dutch Journal of Medicine (NTvG) printed a 'recipe' for conducting a clinical research training project, which made some recommendations for the successful completion of such a project even with limited time and resources. This article reviews these three recommendations and adds another two. The final recommendations are: limit the research question, conduct a pilot study, write the article before you collect the data, streamline the research process and be accountable.