Glossary

| A | C | D | E | F | H | I | J | N | O | P | R | S | W

A (index)
Abstract This is a brief summary of a research study and its results. It should tell you why the study was done, how the researchers went about it and what they found
Academic partner An academic institution which supports a research award or NIHR funded research unit
Award ID A unique identifier provided for each research application
Award Type The category assigned to a funded award which can be a research award, career development award, infrastructure award or Global Health award
Award Type - Career development An award which is provided to an individual researcher or host institutions to support academic training and/or research capacity development
Award Type - Global Health An award which is provided to institutions or research teams which builds on existing expertise within the UK and the wider global health research community to commission and support internationally outstanding applied health research which addresses issues affecting the poorest and most vulnerable people in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) using Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding
Award Type - Infrastructure An award to an institution to providing the facilities and people to support research
Award Type - Research An award for individual researchers and research teams to undertake research to address specific needs of decision-makers (typically, but not exclusively, within the NHS)
Award The overall (current) cost provided by the Department of Health and Social Care through the NIHR to the research team for the duration of the research
Award status An indication of the progress through the research lifecycle of the research awards
Award status - active The research is currently underway and actively engaged in research
Award status - complete The research activity has been completed. This includes a stage when the research team may be writing up the research final report (it is considered completed as no further research is being undertaken)
Award status - contracted The research team has been successful in applying for research funding and the contracts are being written and signed and approvals are being undertaken
Award status - discontinued A status indicating the particular research was stopped prior to completion
   
C (index)
Clinical Trial Clinical trials are research studies involving people who use services, which compare a new or different type of treatment with the best treatment currently available. They test whether the new or different treatment is safe, effective and any better than what already exists. No matter how promising a new treatment may appear during tests in a laboratory, it must go through clinical trials before its benefits and risks can really be known.
Chief Investigator See Principal Investigator
Co-investigators Co-investigators support the Chief Investigator in undertaking the research
Commissioning Brief A detailed description of a question to be answered by new research. In responding to a commissioning brief, researchers outline what studies they would undertake to obtain the information required
Contracting Organisation The contracting organisation is the recipient of the funds for the research and will ultimately be responsible for the delivery of the research
Commissioned research Calls for proposals based on pre-defined research questions developed to respond to the information needs of decision-makers (typically, but not exclusively, within the NHS)
   
D (index)
DAC List Countries These relate to Global Health awards which provide research in specific overseas countries (DAC=Development Assistance Committee)
Data sharing statement The data sharing statement is provided in a Journals Library final report and should provide a clear and positive indication of where and when the data will be shared
   
E (index)
End Year This is when the research award will complete (it is funded until this point) and deliver its outcome(s)
Estimated Publication date For awards which expect to provide an estimated publication date is provided which specifies the date on which the report is to be published
   
F (index)
Funding Stream A funding allocation which is awarded for a specific research activity and is available for researchers. A number of research awards may be provided within a funding stream
   
H (index)
Headline A short abbreviated summary (one or two sentences) of the research final report
Health Classification These are 21 separate categories which encompass all diseases, conditions and areas of health and comprise the official UKCRC Health Research Classification System (see https://hrcsonline.net/health-categories/)
Host Institution This indicates which institution provides the "home" for the research unit
   
I (index)
ISRCTN International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) - a simple numeric system for the unique identification of randomised controlled trials worldwide. The randomly generated number is unique to a registered trial, thereby ensuring that the trial can be simply and unambiguously tracked throughout its lifecycle
   
J (index)
Journals Library The NIHR Journals Library comprises five open access, peer-reviewed, journals on range of health research areas (see www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk)
   
N (index)
NIHR National Institute for Health and Care Research - the research arm of the NHS
   
O (index)
ORCiD A unique identifier for researchers (see https://orcid.org/)
   
P (index)
Plain English Summary A Plain English Summary should be a short document of no more than 300 words which outlines the research so that it can be accessed and understood by any reader including members of the general public
Principal Investigator The person who has initiated the trial, developed the trial design and the methods that will be used to answer the research question, and applied for funding to support the research. He/she is generally an expert in the area of research they have applied to undertake, and take overall responsibility for the trial
Programme The NIHR has a comprehensive range of research programmes in both commissioned and response mode. They offer a focused source of funding for researchers with the aim of improving health and care by providing evidence to inform clinical professionals, NHS managers, patients and the public, and where appropriate policy makers
Primary research Experimental studies generating new data (cf. secondary research, which analyses existing data)
Programme stream This indicates the type of funding opportunity or research call (Researcher Led, Commissioned or Career Development)
PROSPERO registration Database of Prospectively Registered Systematic Reviews - an international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care managed by the NIHR Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. See https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/
Protocol The plan or set of steps to be followed in a stud.
Publication Date For awards which publish in the NIHR Journals Library, the publication date is the official date of publication
   
R (index)
Research Activity Codes (RAC) Research Activity Codes classify types of research activity. There are 48 codes divided into eight overarching code groups which encompass all aspects of health related research activity ranging from basic to applied research (see https://hrcsonline.net/research-activities/)
Research Type This indicates the type of research undertaken by the research award (primary research, secondary research, evidence synthesis or career development)
Research call These are specific research areas for commisioned research or researcher led research where applicants are invited within a specific funding opportunity (a funding opportunity is a request for research applications)
Researcher led research Open calls for researchers to apply for funding for their own topics and questions. These applications are prioritised in terms of NHS or other information need in a process similar to that of the commissioned workstreams
Research themes For infrastructure awards, these indicate the specialist areas within the unit's portfolio
   
S (index)
Secondary research A review of individual studies (each of which is called a primary study). A systematic review is a secondary study
Start Year This is when the research award will commence (it is funded until this point) and undertake the actual research. Prior to this, there will be a contractual stage where the contracts are signed and appropriate approvals are sought
Statistical Analysis Plan A statistical analysis plan is a document that contains a more technical and detailed elaboration of the principal features of the analysis described in the protocol, and includes detailed procedures for executing the statistical analysis of the primary and secondary variables and other data
Status Indicates the current research activity stage of an award. Values can include: Active (research in progress), Completed (the research has finished - this may also include awrads where the Final Report is being developed), Contracted (the award has been funded and contracts are being drawn up) and Discontinued (the award did not complete)
   
W (index)
Website Some awards have dedicated websites and these are provided