Research Commentary:Grant Writing:Part II Grant

Application/Proposal Componentsj Lois S. Marshall, PhD, RN

Lois S. MarshallPhD, RN

Lois S. Marshall, PhDLSM Educational Con

Corresponding author:15146 SW 108 Terraccom

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In my column in December 2012, Iintroduced the grant application/proposal document and its compo-nents. I have included them in thelater section just in case you wantto refer to them again. In this col-umn, I will address each of the com-ponents and how they might beaddressed as you begin to formulateyour document for submission. It isimportant to remember that each

grant application/proposal will have its own idiosyn-crasies, and these need to be addressed following the di-rections “to the letter of the application.” In addition,each individual conducting research will not need toaddress each of the components mentioned in the latersection as some may not be required for the applica-tion/proposal and others may not be relevant or appli-cable for your research study.

THE GRANT APPLICATION/PROPOSAL(REVIEW FROM DECEMBER 2012 RESEARCH

COMMENTARY)

The grant application/proposal is the document inwhich you systematically propose how you are goingto carry out your idea and/or research. You need topresent a strong case, using the written word, as towhy your project should be funded. When beginning

, RN, is an Independent Nurse Educator withsulting, Miami, FL.

Lois S. Marshall, LSM Educational Consulting,e, Miami, FL 33196. E-mail: LSM4556@aol.

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ublished by Elsevier Inc on behalf of thegic & Imaging Nursing.

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the actual formulating of the grant application/pro-posal, 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/PROPOSALCOMPONENTS AND SPECIFICS

Most grant applications have similar components thatneed to be addressed by the researcher. These may in-clude but are not limited to the following:

1. Title: The title is the primary theme of your pro-ject. It needs to tell the reviewer/reader in a con-cise phrase what your project is about. This is thefirst thing that the reader/reviewer will use to de-termine their initial impression of your grant ap-plication/proposal. You want to be sure that thetitle is not too short or too long. It must conveywhat your study is about and grab their atten-tion. You want to make the reader/reviewerwant to keep reading. For example, if your studyexamines parental teaching before a radiologicprocedure, you would not want to just title it,“Teaching for Radiologic Procedures,” as itleaves out too many essentials, such as that theteaching is for parents and what specific proce-dure(s) you are addressing in the study. To thatend, you also do not want the title to be solengthy that the reader/reviewer gets lost in thewords and stops reading. For example, a titlesuch as, “An Instructional Program to AssistParents and Their Children in Coping with theAnxiety Associated with Radiologic Procedures,such as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Proce-dure,” has too much information, and the

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reader/reviewer will sense that if you cannot beconcise in the title, you would not be concise inyour application/proposal, thus there is no rea-son to keep reviewing what you have sent.Thus, you want your title to give enough infor-mation to let the reader/reviewer know whatyour project is about in a concise and succinctmanner. For example, “A Parental TeachingProgram for Children Undergoing an MRI.” Ifyou are unsure if the title you have come upwith conveys your research study, have a col-league, mentor, friend, or editor look at it andtell you what they think the study is about. Ifthey match, then you are a GO. If not, rethinkyour title and modify as needed.

2. Abstract: The abstract is the brief description ofyour research proposal. It should include a state-ment of the purpose of your research study anda brief description of your research design andmethodology. The abstract should be a summaryof your entire project. It should be written ina concise, clear, and comprehensive mannerwhile following the word/character count/limitthat is stated in the instructions for the applica-tion/proposal. If there is one area that oftengets a grant application “sending off red flags,”it is not following the word count for the ab-stract. Additionally, many funders and organiza-tions are now limiting character counts inabstracts. Make sure when you are working onyour grant application/proposal that you checkboth word and character counts and adjust ac-cordingly, not just for the abstract but for the en-tire application. You do not want to find out thatyou did not get considered for funding because ofan error that was in your complete control.

3. Introduction: The introduction section shouldconvey the main idea of your research/projectand why that research is important. You can de-fine such importance to the population your re-search has relevance for, such as nursing, healthcare, policy makers, administrators, and so on.Within the introduction, you should includesome background information about your topic,but make sure it is relevant and to the point. Thissection can include data/statistics from nationaland/or international sources/professional organi-zations if they are appropriate and are not usedto simply add to the section. (NOTE: Rememberwhenever you add content, you are adding to theword/character count, so be sure that it is thecontent that must be there; in other words, itadds relevance and/or context to your applica-tion/proposal.)

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4. Goals/objectives: The goal is the broad statementdescribing what will be accomplished as a resultof your research/project. The objective is themore specific statement that describes the de-tailed outcomes of your research that can bemeasured qualitatively, quantitatively, or both.(NOTE: Measurability is KEY here.) Some grantapplications/proposals ask for specific aims ofthe study, as is often seen with applications forfederal and state funding agencies. If this is thecase, make sure you read closely the distinctionsbetween the terms and address them as is beingasked.

5. Background/significance: Often this section is notrequired as it is a part of the introduction so be-fore you write this section up, be sure you knowwhat the components of your grant application/proposal are and only address them. (NOTE: Ifnot asked for, do not include. Follow directionscarefully.) This is the section of your applica-tion/proposal where you NEED to make a com-pelling argument for why your research issignificant, thus should be funded. You need towrite this section to convince the reviewer/readerwhy your research is important to them. In es-sence, you need to be your own “public relationsfirm.” You need to “sell” your research idea/pro-posal/study to the person(s) you want to fund it.Who is better to do that, than you?

6. Theoretical framework/review of literature: Whenwriting a research grant application/proposal, itis essential that you show how your objectives/re-search questions are supported by a theoreticalframework. There should be a theoretical linkto the variables you plan to analyze, and thisshould be written in a clear manner so that thereviewer/reader understands this link as you do.While you want your literature review to becomprehensive and provide a rationale for yourresearch, you also want to be sure that it istimely, relevant, and directly related to yourstudy. You do not want to pad the informationwith studies that are no longer relevant or donot add anything to your application. Being con-cise and succinct is key to the writing of this sec-tion, always keeping in mind what points you aretrying to make as a basis for why your research isimportant in the overall scheme of the literature.For example, do not include studies that aremore than 5 years old, unless they are considered“classic studies” or are the only studies that aredirectly linked to your variables (NOTE: Makethis point in your writing, i.e., there is a lack ofrelevant 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 theyare significant, even indirectly. Remember thissection is the one that can get extremely “wordy”in the word and/or character count so brevity,while still addressing this section completely, isessential to an effectively written application.

7. Methodology/research plan: This section shouldinclude a detailed description of the logical stepsof your research study/project, in essence, theblueprint of your research study. Each aspectof the research design should be described in se-quence, keeping in mind to be complete, but alsoconcise and succinct. Areas to be addressed inthis section include a research overview; the sam-ple and setting; procedures, materials, and datacollection description; human subjects and how,if applicable, it will be addressed. Institutional re-view board forms and a blank consent formshould be placed in the appendices section. A de-scription of any instruments that you will be us-ing should be included, including a statementabout the reliability and validity of the tool(s).If you have modified the instrument and recalcu-lated the reliability and validity, this should bedescribed. Additionally, if your study is onethat is being conducted for instrument develop-ment, then address that in this section. Any cop-ies of instrument(s) and/or letters related to theirusage from originators should be included inappendices.

8. Dissemination plan: This section needs to be ad-dressed only if it is required in the grant applica-tion. If required, then this section should addresshow the results of your study will be disseminatedto the population of interest. (NOTE: Dissemina-tion is critical to the continued growth of nursingas a profession and to the growth of the body ofscientific nursing/health care literature. Researchis only effective if it is shared!) You should discussfuture plans of presentations at local, state, na-tional, and/or international conferences; publica-tion of your research findings in professionaljournals; and/or posting on a nationally or inter-nationally recognized on-line nursing/researchlibrary/database, such as the Virginia HendersonInternational Library housed by the Honor Soci-ety of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.Even if this section is not required in your applica-tion, you should be thinking about how you willdisseminate your findings, nonetheless. One lastbut very important tip here is to NEVER forgetto put on any abstract, poster, presentation, grantapplication, and similar that funded your re-

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search. It is critical that this should not be forgot-ten, that is, this research was partially fundedby..

9. Team credentials: This section should includea description of all the members of the teamand their expertise. Your team should includeeach person that contributed to or will contributeto the research study from start to finish, includ-ing your statistician, software experts, and othermembers of your team beyond your direct re-search colleagues. Often in a grant application,space is provided for this information. Followthe format that is provided. Complete curriculumvitae should be included in the appendices as dic-tated by the application directions.

10. Institutional qualifications: This section ad-dresses the funding record and library, com-puter, as well as research office facilities thatwill be available to support your research. Formost of you, the clinical, academic, or healthcare organization where you are employed orwill conduct the research is the institution youwill be referring to here. It is important towork with the people in these offices as youcomplete this section of the application/proposal. They are the experts in these areasand will make completing this section thatmore efficient and accurate. If you are an inde-pendent nurse researcher or work as an inde-pendent contractor, that is, consultant, then itis important to address that in this section. Itis also important for you to note that becauseyou are not employed by an agency with certaintax status, you will need to pay taxes on what-ever funding you receive as it would be con-sidered a “gift.” (NOTE: Check with anaccountant as to how to include this in yourtaxes so you do not make an error in reporting.)

11. Budget/budget justification: This section ad-dresses the cost of the project with explanations.This section may need to be written in a particu-lar format so be sure to follow the directionscarefully. You want to be sure that you are asaccurate as you can be with your budget projec-tions. Neither you want to “pad” your budgetnor you want to underestimate your budget.You will have to be continuously justifyingyour budget in interim updates and at the endof your funding period so be sure you are think-ing this section completely through before pre-senting it on the application/proposal. Be sureto know what costs will be covered by the fun-ders. You do not want to have costs in yourbudget that are not covered, indicating that

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you did not read the application closely.(NOTE: If you cannot follow the directions ofthe application and you do not read what costswill be covered or not, why should the fundersfund your research. RED FLAG for not beingaccepted.) Address the areas that will be consid-ered fundable with explanations, including suchitems as travel to conduct the study, statisticianand other consultant assistance (be sure to usethe funder’s cost per hour), equipment, supplies,and so on. An excellent resource for writing thissection is the budget office at your agency/institution. This is their area of expertise. Inaddition, there may be a budget officer in theresearch office who can assist you with thissection.

12. References: This section should be done usingAmerican Psychological Association style, un-less otherwise indicated by the application/proposal directions. You should include all theprimary sources of information that were used.

13. Appendices: This section includes all the sup-plemental documents that support the narrativethroughout the application/proposal. This mightinclude but is not limited to, human subjectconsent forms, copies of instruments, letters ofsupport, and curriculum vitae or biographiesof members of your team, including yourself.Whatever supplemental information is asked

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for in the directions, be sure to include and/oraddress.

As you begin the process of writing a grant applica-tion/proposal, make sure that the research you dowould be covered by the grant you are applying forand be sure you follow the directions as “if they werethe letter of the law.” These are two areas that are oftenthe downfall of novice researchers and/or researchersapplying for funding from funders that they may be un-familiar with. Know the time frame in which you aredealing for your own research study and the funder’stime frame from request for proposals to applicationdeadlines to when monies will be allocated for acceptedapplications. Last, be sure to find a mentor to assistyou with this process, especially if this is an early at-tempt in the grant writing process. Writing a granthas a learning curve and often we learn much fromhearing what others have done right and wrong. Men-torship provides expertise to you and also a pair of“clean eyes” for your application/proposal. If you arein need of a mentor or where to find one in your partic-ular area of interest, contact me and I will be gladto assist you in any way that I can. Contact me atDr. Lois Marshall, LSM4556@aol.com.

In my next Research Column, I will address poten-tial funding sources, resources, and how to find them.If you have questions, let me know, and I will sure ad-dress them either in the next column or to youindividually.

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