Research Project Endorsement

The IFEM Research Committee will endorse suitable research projects, provided they meet the Absolute Criteria listed below. The Committee offers two categories of endorsement:


1) Scientific endorsement

In this category, IRB or Ethics Committee approval has not yet been obtained. The Committee will endorse the study objectives, methodology and validity only

 

2) Full endorsement

In this category, IRB or Ethics Committee approval has been obtained. The Committee will endorse the entire proposed study including:

-the study objectives, methodology and validity

-acknowledgement that the study has been deemed as ethically sound

The following criteria will assist the IFEM Research Committee to determine whether or not to endorse a research project:

Absolute Criteria:

  • The application process must be completed before data collection has finished
  • The proposed research project must be applicable to emergency medicine in more than one country
  • The project must be multi-centre, preferably, multi-national (defined as ≥2 centres or ≥2 countries)
  • The applicants, collectively, must demonstrate a research track record
  • The applicants, collectively, must demonstrate sufficient skills in both content (knowledge of the area) and process (e.g. trial, financial and data management, biostatistics) to undertake the project
  • The research project is primarily related to an aspect of emergency medicine, which includes:
    • Pre-hospital care (EMS)
    • Geriatric/Pediatric Emergency Care
    • Emergency Care Systems
    • Emergency Department care: Standard practice, Infrastructure, Training, Ultrasound
    • Disaster/Disaster response
    • Toxicology/Toxinology
    • Pediatric Emergency Medicine
    • Medical Education/Training
    • New technologies/Point of Care testing/Telemedicine
    • Triage and patient flow/administrative issues
    • Continuous Quality Improvement
    • Digital systems/technologies for emergency care

  • The project is well-designed:
    • The research question and hypothesis are clearly defined
    • The importance of the research is well described
    • The applicants have a realistic budget and have described how they will resource the project, e.g. grants received/applied for
    • The project has demonstrable internal validity (methodology)
    • The project has demonstrable external validity (applicability)

  • The applicants have a Memorandum of Understanding that addresses each party’s responsibilities, authorship and intellectual property

Desirable Criteria:

  • The project aims are consistent with IFEM research priorities
  • The results will be important to:
    • developing countries OR
    • countries where EM is emerging OR
    • improving outcomes when emergency care is provided
  • The research project is not funded or sponsored by industry, and there are no commercial interests for the investigators in the outcome of the research. If the role of industry is clear, and the applicants can demonstrate that there is no conflict of interest, the research project may be considered for endorsement.
  • The project is novel and does not replicate previous/ongoing studies
  • A sound plan for dissemination of the information and implementation of changes, if warranted by results,  is included in the protocol

 

Mechanism for applying for IFEM endorsement:

Step 1:  Applicants complete the IFEM Research Project Endorsement Application Form (RPEAF)

Step 2:  Applicants pay an application fee based upon the World Bank List of Economies:

View World Bank

Member Fees

  • High and Upper Middle income countries: $454AUD 
  • Lower Middle income countries: $302AUD
  • Low income countries:$151AUD


Non-Member Fees - please contact us


Step 3: The application is scrutinized by the IFEM secretariat for completeness

Step 4: A review subcommittee is convened, by the Chair of the Research Committee, as soon as possible after receipt of the application. It will comprise:

  • 3 Research Committee members
  • An IFEM content expert(s), if appropriate
  • An external expert(s), if appropriate

Step 5: The application is evaluated by the review subcommittee

  • Each member completes a project evaluation form (attached)
  • A mean project evaluation score is calculated from the members’ evaluation scores
  • The subcommittee will recommend endorsement if:
    • all absolute criteria are met and
    • the mean evaluation score is greater than 5 (out of 10)
  • The subcommittee recommendation and application are emailed to all Research Committee members together with the project proposal.
  • The application is endorsed if there is general agreement with the subcommittee’s recommendation
  • The Research Committee’s decision is forwarded to the IFEM Board for noting

Step 6: The applicants will be contacted, by email, within 6 weeks of receipt of the application. They will be advised of:

  • the Research Committee’s decision
  • the perceived strengths and weakness of the proposed project
  • suggestions for improvement of the project if applying for Scientific Endorsement

Step 7:  Review Outcome:

  • The application will either be:
    • Accepted
    • Accepted pending satisfactory revision – feedback will be provided to the applicants and they will be invited to submit a revised application within 3 months.
    • Rejected - feedback will be provided to the applicants and they may only resubmit a revised application after a period of 12 months has elapsed
  • The decision of the Research Committee will be final

 

Download Research Project Endorsement Criteria

Download Research Project Endorsement Evaluation Form

 

Research Project Endorsement Application Form

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