Once a supervisor and topic have been identified the following is a general guide to getting a research project up and running.

Broadly a research proposal is made up of the following sections:

• Introduction/ background
• Research objectives/ question
• Experimental Design and Methods
• References

When creating the protocol there are a number of resources to assist including:

• Pediatric department’s designated librarian for literature search assistance
• Discussing a variety of project planning steps including analysis and design with Faculty of Medicine Clinical Disciplines Research Support Services through their request form.

Depending on research design a form outlining variable, data custodians and relation to the project is required. This form (HREB List of variables) along with the proposal can be sent to DataAccess@nlchi.nl.ca This must be completed and signed prior to submitting it as part of an ethics application.

To complete a research project, in most cases, the resident will need to get approval for their project from the Newfoundland and Labrador Health Ethics Research Authority (HERA). To help determine if ethics is needed click here. To create an ethics application requires a ROMEO account.

Once ethics approval has been obtained the next step is to get institutional approval to conduct the research. This goes through the Research Proposal Approval Committee (RPAC). Contact this committee for an up to date copy of the form and what is needed for submission.

After the approvals are obtained the Provincial Data Lab will help create and account. All data will be stored and accessed electronically in Digital Health’s (formerly NLCHIs) online Data Lab service. This secure research environment is available now for all requestors and is highly recommended for data collection, storage and analysis.  The Data Lab allows for users to log in to an external environment to access their data on any device within Canada. Questions about the form and process can be made to  InfoRequests@nlchi.nl.ca.