Category Archives: Tools for Research

TCPS 2 (2014) – Revisions for Public Consultation

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In keeping with its mandate to ensure that the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans is a living document, the Panel on Research Ethics is proposing revisions to TCPS 2 (2014). These proposed revisions are the result, in large part, of the work of two sub-committees of the Panel. The Chapter 11 sub-committee was mandated to review the scope of Chapter 11 – Clinical Trials and to update its guidance. Assistance on the implication of the proposed broader scope was provided by a group of social sciences researchers whose work would be covered under the proposed revisions.

The Population and Public Health Research Advisory Committee (PPHRAC) was established by the Panel in response to comments received from public health and epidemiology researchers in the course of consultations on TCPS 2 in 2010. PPHRAC considered how the guidance in TCPS 2 could be enhanced or adapted to address ethics issues specific to population and public health research.

In addition to the proposals generated by these groups, the Panel is also presenting revisions based on requests for interpretation of TCPS 2 that it has received over the last two years. Finally, some of the proposed changes involved re-organizing parts of the guidance based on changes to Chapter 11. In particular, a number of provisions were moved to the earlier chapters of TCPS 2 where general guidance is provided. A guide to the recommendations is provided in Highlights of Changes.

Comment Submissions

To promote the transparency of this public engagement process, the Panel requests that you include your name and the following demographics with your submission:
1. Province or territory
2. Affiliation: university, hospital, college, community organization, other
3. Capacity in which you are submitting the comments: REB member, researcher, student, administration, research participant, representative of a group or organization.
4. Your main discipline: Behavioural Sciences, Biomedical, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Interdisciplinary, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, other.

All comments received (including identifiable information) will be posted to the Panel’s website after the closing of the comment period. If you do not wish to have your comments posted, please indicate that clearly at the beginning of your submission.

Please e-mail your comments by January 31, 2017 or mail them to:
E-mail: secretariat@rcr.ethics.gc.ca
Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research
16th Floor Mailroom
350 Albert Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H5

The TCPS was developed in 1998 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), or “the Agencies,” to provide harmonized guidance on the ethical conduct of research involving humans. The Agencies formed the Panel in 2001 to interpret and promote the TCPS.

CIHR Online Learning Sessions – Fall 2016 Foundation & Project Grant Webinars

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CIHR Foundation Grant: 2016 Stage 1 and Project Grant 2016 Fall Applications Webinars

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is holding a series of Question & Answer webinars on the Foundation Grant: 2016 stage 1 application and the Project Grant Fall 2016 application starting the end of September 2016. These webinars allow both applicants and research administrators the opportunity to ask any outstanding questions they may have about the stage 1 application and a Project Grant application. In advance of the webinar, participants are invited to consult the Foundation Grant Program and Project Grant Fall 2016 web pages, which include updated supporting material and resources to help applicants successfully complete the applications.

Click here to access CIHR’s Facilitated Online Learning Session page to learn more about registering for these webinars, presented in English and French.

Brescia Fall 2016 Research Workshops

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The following research workshops will be offered in September at Brescia:

Research Grant Writing & Development Workshop

Date: Friday, September 23rd
Time: 11:30 – 1:00pm
Location: Mother St. James Building, Room 302A

This workshop provides a high-level overview of planning, writing and developing research grant applications. Topics covered include:

  • Preparation and planning (proposal, timelines, budget, CCV, ethics etc)
  • Elements of successful proposals
  • Find the right sponsor – types of funding sources
  • Writing tips
  • Common flaws
  • Resources

Time will be set aside for specific questions. Please feel free to bring your lunch.

SSHRC Connection Grant Workshop

Date: Friday, September 30th
Time: 11:30 – 1:00pm
Location: MSJ, Room 302A

Ready to mobilize your knowledge?  SSHRC’s Connection Grants support events and outreach activities geared toward short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives such as workshops, colloquiums, conferences, forums, summer institutes, etc. Connection Grant funding is for one year, and there are four application deadlines throughout the year: February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1. This workshop provides a detailed overview of SSHRC’s Connection grant, and the essentials needed to apply for this opportunity.

Please contact Elizabeth Russell-Minda, Research Officer with questions about these workshops.

Upcoming Webinars–SSHRC Research Grants & Partnerships

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SSHRC is offering webinars for the following upcoming funding opportunities:

  • Insight
  • Insight: Research-Creation
  • Partnership Development
  • Connection
  • Partnership Letter of Intent

These webinars have proven to be very helpful and allow for direct questions and answers from SSHRC representatives. The webinars will be held via Adobe Connect at the following times:

Webinar Date Adobe Connect Link
Insight Grants (English) September 7, 2016, 1:30-3:30pm (EDT) https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r32an3wcrlm
Insight Grant: Research-Creation (English) Sept 13, 1:30-3:30pm (EDT)  https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r318czrs1jz
 Partnership Development Grants (English)  October 4, 12:00-2:00pm (EDT)  https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r49w8mf4p50
 Partnership Grants-Letter of Intent (English)  October 19, 12:00-2:00pm (EDT)  https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r8zoq6nnl8d
 Connection Grants (English) November 7, 12:00-2:00pm (EDT)  https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r2go86viks2

There is no need to register in advance and a Q&A period will follow the presentation. With Adobe Connect, questions must be typed in during the webinar. To join via Adobe Connect:

  • Click on the Adobe Connect webinar link on the date and time specified;
  • Enter your name and press “Enter”;
  • Adjust the volume on your computer.

If it is your first time attending an Adobe Connect meeting, do the following:

Open Access Publishing–Policies, Requirements and Avoiding the Predators

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It’s no secret, the word is out:  Academic publishing has hit the open access high-water mark. To emphasize the importance of providing open access to research findings, a Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications has been established, which outlines a set of policy requirements for those applying for, and receiving Tri-Council funding. The policy requires grant applicants to include their plans for open access publishing and dissemination, and data management. The Tri-Agency policy also requires grant holders to make their research findings accessible to all via open access journals and repositories once that research is funded. It’s a subject worth taking a closer look at, as the world of academic research and funding agencies are most certainly adopting open access plans and processes at a rapid pace. These developments have prompted researchers and authors to consider where and how to make their publications openly accessible. Reputable and distinguished open access journals are out there, but at the same time, there are tons more that appear to be legitimate journals, but upon closer inspection they aren’t worth your time or your money. The journals (open access or print) that fall in the latter category are often billed as predatory journals or vanity publishers. Their main intent is to publish as many articles and journals as they possibly can, and take the money and run. Often, the editorial boards are suspect and many don’t incorporate a true peer-review process, which can lead to all sorts of problems for the author down the road, including how these publications will look to the eyes of a future grant review panel.

One way to avoid the predatory publisher is to begin by conducting your own investigation and evaluation. Below you will find some resources compiled by Western Libraries that will help you make an informed decision on where to find the most reputable open access publisher.

The following questions can be used as guidelines when you are evaluating open access journals.

Publisher level
Is the publisher a member of Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)?OASPA consists of a group of open access publishers, which are recognized for promoting and advocating open access publishing. Please see the list of OASPA members here. Newer publishers are not listed in OASPA, so it will be more appropriate to evaluate them based on their reputation in the related academic community.

Is the publisher a questionable open access publisher? Jeffrey Beall, an academic librarian at the University of Colorado Denver has compiled a list of predatory scholarly open access publishers in his blog. See his criteria for determining predatory open access publisher (2ndedition) here.

What is the mandate of the publisher of the journal? Is it for-profit or not-for-profit? The mandate of the publisher often can be found on their website. Not-for-profit publishers may have deeper commitment to open access, as they focus on scholarship and the dissemination of information rather than profit.

Journal level

Is the journal listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)? DOAJ has an established quality control process to ensure the quality of the journals being included. For the selection criteria, please refer to their webpage.

Does the journal have an impact factor? How high is the impact factor? For some newer open access journals, impact factor may not be available.

Are the peer review guidelines posted on the journal’s website? Is it a blind peer review (or anonymous peer review) in which the reviewers’ and author’s identities are kept secret from each other? Or is it an open peer review in which the identities of the reviewers are transparent to the author? Blind peer review is traditionally considered as the trademark for scientific publishing.

How qualified is the editorial board of the journal? You can check the editorial board members’ profiles if they are available on the journal’s site, or you can do some research on their research backgrounds on the Internet.

Is the journal indexed in major databases or index services? Check Ulrichs Global Serials Directory and sometimes the journal’s website for that information.

How many issues have been published since the journal started? It is useful to review the current and past issues of the journal to get a quick snapshot of the publication history of the journal.

Article level

Check the authors of several articles published in several issues. Are these articles written by a single author or different authors? This can help to see the pool of article submittors of the journal.

Scan through some articles published in several issues. Does the content make sense? Are the articles well-written?

If the author is listed with some affiliation, check the affiliation’s background. If it is an institution or a university, is the affiliated institution or university a reputable one? Does it have a program in the field the article is written about? Check their website for this kind of information.

Check the total cites (number of times being cited by others) for some articles published in several issues. Are these articles being cited reasonably frequently by others in the field, given the time since they were published? There are different places where you can check the total cites for articles. Web of Science has total cites if the article is indexed there. If you need help finding this information, you can contact a subject librarian.

Additional resources:

New Open-Access Social Science Research Archive

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A team of sociologists and librarians in partnership with the Center for Open Science, will develop a new open-access archive for social science research. The archive, called SocArXiv, will let anyone upload, read and share academic papers, according to the announcement. The announcement comes less than two months after the publishing giant Elsevier said it had acquired the Social Science Research Network, a move many open-access advocates criticized.

Source: Inside Higher Ed (July 12, 2016)

For more information, visit SocArXiv.org. Follow SocArXiv on Twitter or Facebook.

Tri-Agency Statement of Principles: Digital Data Management

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Canada’s three federal research granting agencies—the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and SSHRC—have adopted the Tri-Agency Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management as an important step towards strengthening research data management in Canada and maintaining Canada’s research excellence.

The Statement is the result of targeted community engagement, and will serve as the basis for the continuing work of the agencies on the renewal of their data management policies. It recognizes that different stakeholders in Canada’s research system have different roles and responsibilities, and that all parts of the system must work together in order to ensure that Canada maintains international best practices in the preservation, accessibility and reuse of research data.

What is the Tri-Agency Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management?

The Statement outlines the agencies’ overarching expectations for research data management and the roles of researchers, research institutions, research communities, and research funders in supporting data management. It complements and builds upon existing agency policies, and will serve as a guide to assist the research community in preparing for, and contributing to the development of, Tri-Agency data management requirements. The Statement itself does not include mandatory requirements.

Because the research data management environment continues to evolve, the agencies will continue stakeholder engagement and review and revise the Statement as appropriate.

Learn more about the tri-agency data management initiative, and read the Tri-Agency Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management, at science.gc.ca.

CIHR Institute of Gender and Health Training Modules: Integrating Sex and Gender into Health Research

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Every cell is sexed and every person is gendered. Sex and gender considerations influence our risk of developing certain diseases, how well we respond to interventions, and how often we seek health care. When research fails to account for sex and gender, there is a risk of harm by assuming that the study results apply to everyone.

The CIHR Institute of Gender and Health’s new training modules are designed to help researchers and peer reviewers better integrate sex and gender into health research. The training modules are divided into three sections:

1) Sex and Gender in Biomedical Research

2) Sex and Gender in Primary Data Collection with Humans

3) Sex and Gender in Secondary Data Analysis

Each module is 30-45 minutes and comes with a CIHR Certificate of Completion. These modules will help reviewers learn how to identify sex and gender differences in the mechanism, disease or treatment under study; identify methods for integrating sex and gender variables in health research contexts; and assess a research protocol or publication based on the integration or omission of sex and gender.

Source: CAREB-ACCER, Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards

BUC Common CV Workshop

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A Canadian Common CV (CCV) workshop will be held at Brescia in June, in anticipation of upcoming Summer and Fall Tri-Council grant opportunities, such as CIHR’s Foundation and Project grant programs. The CIHR Foundation grant Notice of Intent to Apply deadline is expected to be late July and will require some version of a CIHR CCV. The SSHRC Insight Grants competition in the Fall, will continue to use the “old” Web-based CV platform and has not been migrated to the Research Portal.

Workshop overview: A CCV is quite often a required attachment for primary applicants and co-applicants when applying for various grant opportunities that use online application interfaces (CIHR, SSHRC, NSERC etc.). The CCV allows researchers to have a single CV that they can use to apply to multiple agencies. Building and maintaining a CCV can also be a time-consuming task. Researchers/applicants should give themselves enough time to complete the CCV process. This workshop will include 1) an overview of the basics of registering and establishing a CCV using the online system; 2) how to select a funding CV type; 3) how the various CCVs are linked to grant application portals; 4) and other functional components of the CCV. Time will be reserved for specific questions.

Date: Tuesday June 7, 2016

Time: 9:30am – 11:00am

Location: Cypress Meeting Room (Clare Hall)

For more information and/or questions, contact Elizabeth Russell-Minda, Research Officer x28260 elizabeth.minda[at]uwo.ca

Western Research Workshops – NSERC Discovery Grant and CCV

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Western is offering the following upcoming NSERC seminar and CCV workshops:

NSERC Discovery Grant Seminar-Application Preparation, Tips and Evaluation Criteria

“How to Prepare a Discovery Grant Application”

Presenter: Megan Rose-Martel, PhD
NSERC Program Officer, Research Grants and Scholarships

Date: Thursday, June 2, 2016
Time: 10:00 – 11:30 am (60 min presentation and Q&A)
Location: 3M Centre, Room 3250

Presentation Summary:
Megan Rose-Martel, NSERC Program Officer, will present an overview of the peer review process and advice will be given on how to prepare a Discovery Grant application. The workshop will cover topics such as Discovery Grant Evaluation Groups, criteria for evaluation and ratings, and tips on how to prepare an application. While the workshop will be most helpful to new faculty members and those preparing applications this Fall, all researchers are welcome to attend. A question period will follow the presentation.

CCV Information Sessions

In anticipation of major competitions this Fall that require the Canadian Common CV, Western Research Services is offering three CCV information sessions on campus this June and July. The major upcoming grant competitions include the CIHR Foundation and Project grants, and the NSERC Discovery grant, all of which will require a CCV.

Note: There are mandatory registration and Notification of Intent to Apply stages for both the CIHR Foundation grant and NSERC Discovery grant. The deadlines for the CIHR Foundation grant have not been officially announced, but it is expected to be sometime in late July. The NSERC deadline to apply is Monday, August 1 @8pm. A version of the CCV must accompany these submissions.

Anyone is welcome to attend any session. The sessions may be useful to those who haven’t had to use the CCV yet in applying for research funding. As the process can be time consuming, research staff recommend setting aside enough time in advance to complete the CCV process.

This info session will also take a look at the ResearchNet and Research Portal application submission systems.

Please RSVP to Louise Kilianski, louise.kilianski@uwo.ca indicating your name, department and which session you’d like to participate.

Location                                                           Date                             Time

Western Science Centre (WSC) 187                 June 21                         10:00-11:30am
Spencer Engineering Bldg (SEB), 3109          June 27                         10:00-11:30am
Medical Sciences Bldg (MSB), 148                  July 11                           1:00-2:30pm