#' PROscorer
#'
#' @description An open-source repository of functions to score specific
#' Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO), Quality of Life (QoL), and other
#' psychometric measures commonly used in research.
#'
#' @details The \pkg{PROscorer} package is an extensible repository of functions
#' to score specific PRO, QoL, and other psychometric measures and
#' questionnaire-based instruments commonly used in research. It is intended
#' to promote best practices for scoring PRO-like instruments, to standardize
#' scoring procedures for PRO measures across studies, and to improve the
#' reproducibility of research with PRO-like instruments by providing
#' accurate, up-to-date, and well-documented PRO scoring functions that can
#' easily be integrated into scientifically reproducible workflows.
#'
#' Additionally, \pkg{PROscorer} is accompanied by a package vignette that
#' contains detailed descriptions of each instrument scored by
#' \pkg{PROscorer}, complete with references. Importantly, the instrument
#' summaries are written according to a set of standards that ensure they meet
#' "best practice" guidelines for descriptions of PRO-like measures in formal
#' research protocols and in reports of research results featuring such
#' measures. This means that, with little or no editing, a given instrument
#' summary can be copied and pasted directly into protocols, grant proposals,
#' and manuscripts. In addition to improving the measure descriptions in
#' research documents, this saves the study investigators considerable time
#' and effort.
#'
#'
#' @section The Problem: The scientific rigor and reproducibility of research
#' involving PRO, QoL, and similar measures is lagging behind other research
#' areas. Three major reasons for these shortcomings are (1) measurement
#' error introduced by faulty scoring procedures, (2) inconsistent application
#' of scoring instructions across different studies using the same PRO
#' measures, and (3) inadequate, incomplete, and/or inaccurate descriptions of
#' PRO-like measures in research protocols and in published results of studies
#' that incorporate such measures.
#'
#' Scoring procedures represent a major source of error in research studies
#' that rely upon PRO and similar measures. These errors typically go
#' unnoticed, hidden, and/or ignored, eroding the scientific integrity of the
#' research and hindering progress in the numerous scientific fields that
#' conduct studies that use these measures.
#'
#' Similarly, inconsistent application of PRO scoring procedures and
#' variation in scoring across studies makes study results less likely to
#' replicate and slows the accumulation of reliable scientific data from the
#' PRO measure.
#'
#' Inadequate, incomplete, and/or inaccurate descriptions of PRO-like measures
#' in research documents can cause confusion and introduce errors, oversights,
#' and other mistakes at multiple stages in the research process.
#'
#' @section The Proposed Solution: The \pkg{PROscorer} package provides the
#' framework for addressing these problems with research involving PRO-like
#' measures. The lofty goal of the \pkg{PROscorer} package is to eliminate
#' these serious deficiencies in PRO-based research by serving as the
#' gold-standard open-source repository of scoring syntax and instrument
#' descriptions for PRO-like measures commonly used in research and clinical
#' settings.
#'
#' The features of the \pkg{PROscorer} package and supporting infrastructure
#' were carefully planned with this ambitious goal in mind.
#'
#' * \pkg{PROscorer} serves as the repository of scoring functions for
#' specific, commonly-used PRO measures (e.g., the EORTC QLQ-C30).
#' * All scoring functions in \pkg{PROscorer} are written using simpler
#' functions from a separate package, \pkg{PROscorerTools}. The
#' \pkg{PROscorerTools} package provides the well-tested, reusable
#' infrastructure for the \pkg{PROscorer} functions. This makes it easy to
#' write new scoring functions to add to \pkg{PROscorer}, and decreases the
#' chance of errors and other bugs.
#' * Advanced users can use \pkg{PROscorerTools} to write new scoring
#' functions for their favorite PRO-like measures and submit them for
#' inclusion in future \pkg{PROscorer} updates. As of this initial release,
#' the system for writing and submitting new functions is immature. A
#' vignette will be included in future updates with a guide for writing new
#' functions and submitting them for review on GitHub.
#'
#' Functions to score additional PRO measures are currently under development
#' and will be included in future releases.
#'
#' @section Please Provide Feedback: The \pkg{PROscorer} and
#' \pkg{PROscorerTools} packages are still in their initial versions. As
#' such, some details and other conventions are still being hammered out,
#' particularly in \pkg{PROscorerTools} (e.g., function naming conventions,
#' argument-checking functions, etc.). However, any changes to the
#' \pkg{PROscorer} functions are expected to be internal and have little or no
#' impact on end-users.
#'
#' I put a lot of thought into the \pkg{PROscorer} and \pkg{PROscorerTools}
#' packages, and I have tested them as an end-user as well as developer.
#' However, I cannot anticipate the needs of all users, and I would like your
#' feedback on your experience using the package(s). Please let me know if
#' you found \pkg{PROscorer} and/or \pkg{PROscorerTools} helpful. And please
#' tell me how I can improve their usability, and definitely report any bugs
#' or other unexpected behaviors you encounter. Make feature requests and bug
#' reports here: https://github.com/raybaser/PROscorerTools/issues
#'
#' @name PROscorer
"_PACKAGE"
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