Research Commentary:
Grant Writing:
Part II Grant
Application/Proposal Components
j Lois S. Marshall, PhD, RN
In my column in December 2012, I
introduced the grant application/
proposal document and its components. I have included them in the
later section just in case you want
to refer to them again. In this column, I will address each of the components and how they might be
addressed as you begin to formulate
Lois S. Marshall
your document for submission. It is
PhD, RN
important to remember that each
grant application/proposal will have its own idiosyncrasies, and these need to be addressed following the directions “to the letter of the application.” In addition,
each individual conducting research will not need to
address each of the components mentioned in the later
section as some may not be required for the application/proposal and others may not be relevant or applicable for your research study.
THE GRANT APPLICATION/PROPOSAL
(REVIEW FROM DECEMBER 2012 RESEARCH
COMMENTARY)
The grant application/proposal is the document in
which you systematically propose how you are going
to carry out your idea and/or research. You need to
present a strong case, using the written word, as to
why your project should be funded. When beginning
Lois S. Marshall, PhD, RN, is an Independent Nurse Educator with
LSM Educational Consulting, Miami, FL.
Corresponding author: Lois S. Marshall, LSM Educational Consulting,
15146 SW 108 Terrace, Miami, FL 33196. E-mail: LSM4556@aol.
com
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1546-0843/$36.00
Copyright Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of the
Association for Radiologic & Imaging Nursing.
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the actual formulating of the grant application/proposal, you should consider the following questions:
1. What is your research specifically about?
2. Why is your research important?
3. What is the process you will take to accomplish
our project goals and objectives?
4. What will your research project cost?
5. Why are you the best person to conduct this
research?
GRANT APPLICATION/PROPOSAL
COMPONENTS AND SPECIFICS
Most grant applications have similar components that
need to be addressed by the researcher. These may include but are not limited to the following:
1. Title: The title is the primary theme of your project. It needs to tell the reviewer/reader in a concise phrase what your project is about. This is the
first thing that the reader/reviewer will use to determine their initial impression of your grant application/proposal. You want to be sure that the
title is not too short or too long. It must convey
what your study is about and grab their attention. You want to make the reader/reviewer
want to keep reading. For example, if your study
examines parental teaching before a radiologic
procedure, you would not want to just title it,
“Teaching for Radiologic Procedures,” as it
leaves out too many essentials, such as that the
teaching is for parents and what specific procedure(s) you are addressing in the study. To that
end, you also do not want the title to be so
lengthy that the reader/reviewer gets lost in the
words and stops reading. For example, a title
such as, “An Instructional Program to Assist
Parents and Their Children in Coping with the
Anxiety Associated with Radiologic Procedures,
such as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Procedure,” has too much information, and the
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reader/reviewer will sense that if you cannot be
concise in the title, you would not be concise in
your application/proposal, thus there is no reason to keep reviewing what you have sent.
Thus, you want your title to give enough information to let the reader/reviewer know what
your project is about in a concise and succinct
manner. For example, “A Parental Teaching
Program for Children Undergoing an MRI.” If
you are unsure if the title you have come up
with conveys your research study, have a colleague, mentor, friend, or editor look at it and
tell you what they think the study is about. If
they match, then you are a GO. If not, rethink
your title and modify as needed.
2. Abstract: The abstract is the brief description of
your research proposal. It should include a statement of the purpose of your research study and
a brief description of your research design and
methodology. The abstract should be a summary
of your entire project. It should be written in
a concise, clear, and comprehensive manner
while following the word/character count/limit
that is stated in the instructions for the application/proposal. If there is one area that often
gets a grant application “sending off red flags,”
it is not following the word count for the abstract. Additionally, many funders and organizations are now limiting character counts in
abstracts. Make sure when you are working on
your grant application/proposal that you check
both word and character counts and adjust accordingly, not just for the abstract but for the entire application. You do not want to find out that
you did not get considered for funding because of
an error that was in your complete control.
3. Introduction: The introduction section should
convey the main idea of your research/project
and why that research is important. You can define such importance to the population your research has relevance for, such as nursing, health
care, policy makers, administrators, and so on.
Within the introduction, you should include
some background information about your topic,
but make sure it is relevant and to the point. This
section can include data/statistics from national
and/or international sources/professional organizations if they are appropriate and are not used
to simply add to the section. (NOTE: Remember
whenever you add content, you are adding to the
word/character count, so be sure that it is the
content that must be there; in other words, it
adds relevance and/or context to your application/proposal.)
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4. Goals/objectives: The goal is the broad statement
describing what will be accomplished as a result
of your research/project. The objective is the
more specific statement that describes the detailed outcomes of your research that can be
measured qualitatively, quantitatively, or both.
(NOTE: Measurability is KEY here.) Some grant
applications/proposals ask for specific aims of
the study, as is often seen with applications for
federal and state funding agencies. If this is the
case, make sure you read closely the distinctions
between the terms and address them as is being
asked.
5. Background/significance: Often this section is not
required as it is a part of the introduction so before you write this section up, be sure you know
what the components of your grant application/
proposal are and only address them. (NOTE: If
not asked for, do not include. Follow directions
carefully.) This is the section of your application/proposal where you NEED to make a compelling argument for why your research is
significant, thus should be funded. You need to
write this section to convince the reviewer/reader
why your research is important to them. In essence, you need to be your own “public relations
firm.” You need to “sell” your research idea/proposal/study to the person(s) you want to fund it.
Who is better to do that, than you?
6. Theoretical framework/review of literature: When
writing a research grant application/proposal, it
is essential that you show how your objectives/research questions are supported by a theoretical
framework. There should be a theoretical link
to the variables you plan to analyze, and this
should be written in a clear manner so that the
reviewer/reader understands this link as you do.
While you want your literature review to be
comprehensive and provide a rationale for your
research, you also want to be sure that it is
timely, relevant, and directly related to your
study. You do not want to pad the information
with studies that are no longer relevant or do
not add anything to your application. Being concise and succinct is key to the writing of this section, always keeping in mind what points you are
trying to make as a basis for why your research is
important in the overall scheme of the literature.
For example, do not include studies that are
more than 5 years old, unless they are considered
“classic studies” or are the only studies that are
directly linked to your variables (NOTE: Make
this point in your writing, i.e., there is a lack of
relevant literature .). Do not include studies
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that are only indirectly linked to your research,
unless you can make the point as to why they
are significant, even indirectly. Remember this
section is the one that can get extremely “wordy”
in the word and/or character count so brevity,
while still addressing this section completely, is
essential to an effectively written application.
7. Methodology/research plan: This section should
include a detailed description of the logical steps
of your research study/project, in essence, the
blueprint of your research study. Each aspect
of the research design should be described in sequence, keeping in mind to be complete, but also
concise and succinct. Areas to be addressed in
this section include a research overview; the sample and setting; procedures, materials, and data
collection description; human subjects and how,
if applicable, it will be addressed. Institutional review board forms and a blank consent form
should be placed in the appendices section. A description of any instruments that you will be using should be included, including a statement
about the reliability and validity of the tool(s).
If you have modified the instrument and recalculated the reliability and validity, this should be
described. Additionally, if your study is one
that is being conducted for instrument development, then address that in this section. Any copies of instrument(s) and/or letters related to their
usage from originators should be included in
appendices.
8. Dissemination plan: This section needs to be addressed only if it is required in the grant application. If required, then this section should address
how the results of your study will be disseminated
to the population of interest. (NOTE: Dissemination is critical to the continued growth of nursing
as a profession and to the growth of the body of
scientific nursing/health care literature. Research
is only effective if it is shared!) You should discuss
future plans of presentations at local, state, national, and/or international conferences; publication of your research findings in professional
journals; and/or posting on a nationally or internationally recognized on-line nursing/research
library/database, such as the Virginia Henderson
International Library housed by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.
Even if this section is not required in your application, you should be thinking about how you will
disseminate your findings, nonetheless. One last
but very important tip here is to NEVER forget
to put on any abstract, poster, presentation, grant
application, and similar that funded your re-
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Grant Application/Proposal .
search. It is critical that this should not be forgotten, that is, this research was partially funded
by..
9. Team credentials: This section should include
a description of all the members of the team
and their expertise. Your team should include
each person that contributed to or will contribute
to the research study from start to finish, including your statistician, software experts, and other
members of your team beyond your direct research colleagues. Often in a grant application,
space is provided for this information. Follow
the format that is provided. Complete curriculum
vitae should be included in the appendices as dictated by the application directions.
10. Institutional qualifications: This section addresses the funding record and library, computer, as well as research office facilities that
will be available to support your research. For
most of you, the clinical, academic, or health
care organization where you are employed or
will conduct the research is the institution you
will be referring to here. It is important to
work with the people in these offices as you
complete this section of the application/
proposal. They are the experts in these areas
and will make completing this section that
more efficient and accurate. If you are an independent nurse researcher or work as an independent contractor, that is, consultant, then it
is important to address that in this section. It
is also important for you to note that because
you are not employed by an agency with certain
tax status, you will need to pay taxes on whatever funding you receive as it would be considered a “gift.” (NOTE: Check with an
accountant as to how to include this in your
taxes so you do not make an error in reporting.)
11. Budget/budget justification: This section addresses the cost of the project with explanations.
This section may need to be written in a particular format so be sure to follow the directions
carefully. You want to be sure that you are as
accurate as you can be with your budget projections. Neither you want to “pad” your budget
nor you want to underestimate your budget.
You will have to be continuously justifying
your budget in interim updates and at the end
of your funding period so be sure you are thinking this section completely through before presenting it on the application/proposal. Be sure
to know what costs will be covered by the funders. You do not want to have costs in your
budget that are not covered, indicating that
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you did not read the application closely.
(NOTE: If you cannot follow the directions of
the application and you do not read what costs
will be covered or not, why should the funders
fund your research. RED FLAG for not being
accepted.) Address the areas that will be considered fundable with explanations, including such
items as travel to conduct the study, statistician
and other consultant assistance (be sure to use
the funder’s cost per hour), equipment, supplies,
and so on. An excellent resource for writing this
section is the budget office at your agency/
institution. This is their area of expertise. In
addition, there may be a budget officer in the
research office who can assist you with this
section.
12. References: This section should be done using
American Psychological Association style, unless otherwise indicated by the application/
proposal directions. You should include all the
primary sources of information that were used.
13. Appendices: This section includes all the supplemental documents that support the narrative
throughout the application/proposal. This might
include but is not limited to, human subject
consent forms, copies of instruments, letters of
support, and curriculum vitae or biographies
of members of your team, including yourself.
Whatever supplemental information is asked
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for in the directions, be sure to include and/or
address.
As you begin the process of writing a grant application/proposal, make sure that the research you do
would be covered by the grant you are applying for
and be sure you follow the directions as “if they were
the letter of the law.” These are two areas that are often
the downfall of novice researchers and/or researchers
applying for funding from funders that they may be unfamiliar with. Know the time frame in which you are
dealing for your own research study and the funder’s
time frame from request for proposals to application
deadlines to when monies will be allocated for accepted
applications. Last, be sure to find a mentor to assist
you with this process, especially if this is an early attempt in the grant writing process. Writing a grant
has a learning curve and often we learn much from
hearing what others have done right and wrong. Mentorship provides expertise to you and also a pair of
“clean eyes” for your application/proposal. If you are
in need of a mentor or where to find one in your particular area of interest, contact me and I will be glad
to assist you in any way that I can. Contact me at
Dr. Lois Marshall, LSM4556@aol.com.
In my next Research Column, I will address potential funding sources, resources, and how to find them.
If you have questions, let me know, and I will sure address them either in the next column or to you
individually.
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