Knowledge-Evidence Management/Systematic Reviews/Desk Research

We are building on our success with two weekly digest publications – Vaccines and Global Health: The Week in Review and The Sentinel – to offer specialized monitoring and analysis services supporting clients special thematic, geographic, or issues areas. We will also build out our desk research services – providing landscaping reports and, when indicated, systematic reviews – to help assure that client research directions and associated strategies are well-grounded and informed by the relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature.

Research Design/Protocol Development

We plan to provide specific support to conceptualize, draft, refine, and review research design and full protocols to help ensure a robust work plan that is both ethically and scientifically sound and supportive of the research mission. This consultative service depends on a high level of interaction with research PIs/leads and will usually involve on-site activity.

Research Tools

We plan to offer technical assistance in the design of ethical and comprehensive research tools to ensure research is undertaken in an ethical and scientific manner.  Research tools include informed consent documents, information sheets, questionnaires/surveys and other research tools.

Interview Training

We also will provide training to researchers on how to conduct ethical, scientific, and professional interviews with respondents within the qualitative and quantitative research framework.  The training modules will be customized according to the organization’s needs and the research agenda, and again will depend on a high level of interaction with research PIs, and involve on-site visits.

Data management support

We will also provide technical support to the research teams on how to manage and store data in an ethical and scientific manner throughout the research cycle.  After the data is obtained, our team will offer on-site support, working with researchers to ensure data is stored in a manner that complies with ethical standards.  We will also help ensure that data is organized and managed in a way that facilitates and supports the research.  

Data analysis

We will also provide technical assistance where needed in the analysis of qualitative data to ensure that any data obtained is interpreted and used in an ethically and scientifically sound manner.  This will be done through on-site training as well as by providing research support.

Ethical Reviews and Ethics Consultation

A key focus of our work is the provision of independent ethical review and consultative support across the evidence generation cycle in the human rights, humanitarian response, health, heritage stewardship, education and development spheres of action. We intend to support such work as undertaken primarily by international agencies, INGOs, governments, and cross-sector initiatives. 

We recognize that a given project may involve or require action by multiple research review points – for example, academic IRBs, national regulatory/ethics review bodies, and other review agencies. We provide support for filings, documentation, and interaction with ethics review bodies.

Whether a project requires action by a specific ethics review body action or not, we can provide independent ethical review. The work product of this review is a written report providing specific analysis and comment on the proposed project, and a “findings” statement of the ethical viability and scientific rigor of the research plan/protocol as reviewed. This finding statement focuses on a project’s ethical dimensions as well as the larger context of research design, scientific rigor, resource profile, and other aspects of the research plan/protocol that ultimately bear on its ethical viability.

We provide, where indicated or requested, direct presentation of findings and guidance above on a given research initiative, and ongoing consultation to support internal review and design processes in the research organization.

Once research projects are approved and underway, there is a continuing requirement that ethical safeguards and commitments made in the research plan/protocol are implemented and maintained, and that departures from or challenges to these commitments are mitigated. In this context, we provide ongoing consultation, which may involve strategy and mitigation support services. We are deploying a “help-desk model” to support timely response capability.

Finally, we recognize that organizations that have research projects already in review elsewhere, or already in implementation in the field (without our prior involvement), may encounter ethical challenges requiring consultation, strategy, and mitigation. We stand ready to provide “help-desk” and in-depth consultative support in these situations on a real-time response basis.

Ethics Training

Our assessment is that many organizations are building research capacity and engaging more formal research agendas but recognize that leaders and field staff need training and support in basic ethical principles and in the application of ethical codes and commitments made by the organization for its research and operations overall. We provide on-site ethics training to support this capacity building need.

Ethical Codes/Frameworks

While there is an excellent foundation of ethics codes, statements of principles, and important ethical referents in international humanitarian law (IHL) and various operating standards, many organizations are moving to develop and adopt specific ethical codes/frameworks aligned to their spheres of action, governance structure, geographic presence, and practical realities. We provide support and guidance for drafting, refining, adopting, and implementing organizationalcodes of ethics. 

Ethics Audit 

Throughout the research cycle, we plan to provide selective ethics audit services for active research in-country and post-research contexts on a case-by-case basis.