Purpose of the Scientific Committee

• Ensure the scientific quality of research studies of the CLAHRC through peer review of study proposals;
• Provide advice to the Director, Management Board and Executive Group on scientific matters, as required.

Accountability

The Scientific Committee reports to the Executive Group of the CLAHRC, although the Management Board may request contributions of advice and opinion.  

The Scientific Committee provides an annual report to the Executive Group, outlining numbers of studies peer reviewed, any difficulties experienced, and any other matters of note.

It is expected that the Scientific Committee will meet twice a year and liaise regarding scientific review of studies throughout the year as required.  Study review will be under the direction of the Chair of the Committee.

The Process of Peer Review

The procedures and timelines for scientific review are set out in the flow chart for the consideration of research studies.

The overall purpose of peer review is to ensure that the research funded and conducted by the CLAHRC is high quality: ‘high quality’ is taken to mean research that is capable of generating outputs that would be highly rated in a national research assessment exercise. The review process is used primarily to improve the quality of the proposed research, not to prevent the research from going forward.

Outline of process:

• Proposals are to be sent to the CLAHRC office
• The office will liaise with the Chair of the Scientific Committee to arrange peer review
• The reports from review will be reviewed by the Committee
• Recommendations will be issued to the Director of the CLAHRC and the study PI
• Investigators invited to respond to indicate how the points are to be addressed.

Projects under £50,000 are reviewed internally by two academics not directly associated with the research.  Proposals for research costing over £50,000 are sent for external peer review.

Normally, three external referees are selected for each project for their knowledge and/or methodological skills in the field addressed by the research. They may be drawn from: other CLAHRCs, referees suggested by the applicants, other sources of information on potential referees (e.g., the published list of MRC College of Experts).

One of the three referees is drawn from the NHS to ensure the project has value and relevance to the NHS. The referees will not be members of the same Department as the investigators named in the research project and will be asked to declare that they do not have any conflict of interest in judging the quality of the research. 

Research protocols submitted to the Scientific Committee should contain the following information:

• Abstract,
• Background,
• Aims,
• Methods,
• Justification of sample size,
• Participant inclusion and exclusion criteria,
• Feasibility of recruitment, timetable,
• Patient and public involvement,
• Project staffing and management,
• Summary of costs,
• Value/relevance to the NHS locally and nationally,
• Plans for dissemination locally and nationally,
• Details of any plans to support the local implementation of research findings.

Also provide the names and contact details of two internal (<£50,000) or three external (£50,000+) people who might potentially review the protocol. A payment of £50 is made to each external reviewer.

Please complete an application form with all protocols to submit to the CLAHRC-LNR Scientific Committee.