EQUATOR Network opens survey of HRA stakeholders on reporting and dissemination of research results

Share your views on how health research results in the UK should be reported and disseminated

The UK EQUATOR Centre is conducting a project that aims to increase the transparency and completeness of future published research. This project has been commissioned by the UK’s Health Research Authority (HRA), who has tasked the EQUATOR Network with carrying out a call for comments to inform future HRA policies on research reporting and dissemination.

We are conducting a survey that focuses on how to modify the current question A51 on the IRAS ethics application, ‘How do you intend to report and disseminate the results of the study’, to ensure researchers understand the full extent of their commitment to responsibly share their research findings.

If you would like to share your views on how health research results in the UK should be reported and disseminated, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HRA_IRAS_A51. We are particularly interested in the views of the UK-based medical research community, including but not limited to researchers, clinicians, patients, journal editors, and funders.

The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete. Your responses will be anonymous, no individual respondents will be identified, and the data will only be reported in an aggregated form. You are under no obligation to complete this survey and can end your involvement at any time. We will receive all of the responses that you enter even if you exit the survey early, but you can edit your responses while in the survey.

If you have any queries, please email us at iveta.simera@csm.ox.ac.uk or jennifer.de-beyer@csm.ox.ac.uk.

The Health Research Authority was established in December 2011 to protect and promote the interests of patients and the public in health research, and to streamline the regulation of research. Many members of the public want the opportunity to participate in research. The HRA makes sure that health research involving them is ethically reviewed and approved, that people are provided with the information they need to help them decide whether they wish to take part, and that their opportunity to do so is maximised by simplifying the processes by which high quality research is assessed. In doing this, the HRA will help to build both public confidence and participation in health research, and so improve the nation’s health.

Update: Thank you for your responses to this survey! You can find the final report here: Report to the HRA on IRAS question A 51 by EQUATOR Network delivered 31 March 2017 (PDF).