{"id":40268,"date":"2017-10-02T15:34:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T14:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=40268"},"modified":"2017-10-02T15:34:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T14:34:00","slug":"partnership-between-the-bmj-and-pfizer-learn-and-change-to-improve-the-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2017\/10\/02\/partnership-between-the-bmj-and-pfizer-learn-and-change-to-improve-the-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Partnership between the BMJ and Pfizer: Learn and change to improve the evidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

People do health research for many different reasons. Most, we hope, try to answer questions that are important to patient care or policy, with a chance of informing service development or improving health. This is particularly<\/span> urgent in lower income countries<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> where there is still not nearly enough locally derived evidence to drive and support healthcare development and improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet research too often starts with suboptimal questions or <\/span>loses its way<\/span><\/a>, l<\/span>eading to rejection or retraction from journals and skewing the evidence base for health<\/span>. <\/span>One study<\/span><\/a>, for instance, showed that, among 312 papers retracted from Medline, 40% were withdrawn owing to errors or non-replicable findings.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we meet these challenges, and ensure that the resources for health research <\/span>yield the greatest possible value<\/span><\/a>? Many health researchers get some advice on how to use statistics and write papers, but relatively few, worldwide, receive enough support from their institutions to develop good research questions, use the best study designs, and properly report studies\u2019 methods and results.<\/span><\/p>\n

So that\u2019s why BMJ developed the<\/span> Research to Publication <\/span><\/a>elearning <\/span>programme, <\/span>to help <\/span>research institutions in Africa, South Asia, Latin America, Europe, and beyond to <\/span>build capabilities<\/span><\/a> f<\/span>or trustworthy, publishable, and usable health research. <\/span>Systematic analysis<\/span><\/a> suggests that capacity development for clinical research depends on five main types of competency and, of these, professional skills and scientific thinking are critically important. Research to Publication offers the tools to develop professional skills and scientific thinking\u2014ultimately contributing to the development of capacity to conduct high quality, relevant clinical research.<\/span><\/p>\n

The BMJ and Pfizer\u2019s Independent Grants for Learning and Change (IGLC) are pleased to announce the launch of two competitive grant programmes intended to encourage research and healthcare institutions to apply for access to the Research to Publication e-learning modules, the purchase of which will be funded by Pfizer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The mission of Pfizer\u2019s IGLC Programme is to partner with the global healthcare community to improve patient outcomes in areas of mutual interest through support of measurable learning and change strategies. In partnering with the BMJ to provide access to Research to Publication, Pfizer is seeking to help improve both the conduct and publication of clinical research in medical, dental, nursing, allied health, and\/or pharmacy professional schools and in other academic institutions and healthcare settings.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The two competitive grant programmes will be a call for applications from institutions in <\/span>low and low-to-middle income countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East <\/span>(apply <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>) and another call for applications from institutions in the UK (apply <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Applicants will need to show that they have:<\/span><\/p>\n