–       Explain the importance of the health outcome/topic you are studying.

–       Present information about the burden of mortality, and morbidity.

–       Present information about the economic burden of the health outcome.

–       Briefly explain the key causes/risk factors

–       ­­Briefly summarise what is known about the research topic.

–       Present information from research studies that have previously been conducted.

–       Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of previous studies.

–       Explain the need for future research (gaps in research).

–       Provide rationale for your proposed research (how you propose to fill gaps in research).

–       (Qualitative research questions typically ask about the experiences, perceptions or attitudes of participants)

–       Research Objectives: briefly state what you will need to achieve to answer your research question e.g. conduct interviews to collect data on participant’s experiences.

–       (Quantitative research questions typically ask about relationships between exposures and outcomes or differences between groups)

–       Research Objectives: briefly state what you will need to achieve to answer your research question e.g. conduct a survey to provide information about the prevalence of the health outcome.

–       Hypotheses:  State hypotheses about relationships between variables or differences between groups

–       (Literature review research questions typically ask what is currently known about a health issue or the state of the evidence from qualitative, quantitative studies or both).

–       Research Objectives: briefly state what you will need to achieve to answer your research question e.g. conduct a literature search and synthesise data from studies.

–       Study design: e.g. grounded theory, phenology, ethnography, case study.

–       State whether the proposed study is cross-sectional or longitudinal.

–       Subjects / Participants: describe the characteristics of people eligible to participate in your study

–       Inclusion / exclusion criteria: describe criteria for including or excluding participants.

–       Sampling: Approach to sampling e.g. purposive, theoretical or convenience sampling

–       Recruitment:  Explain step-by-step how participants will be recruited to participate in your study, including details of materials used to recruit.

–       Data collection: Explain the approach to data collection e.g. interviews, focus groups or observation.

–       Provide details about all procedures involved.

–       Provide examples of data collection tools (e.g. questions to be asked during interviews or focus groups).

–       Data analysis: Explain the approach to data analysis e.g. coding and theming the data

–       Study design: Experimental (e.g. Randomised controlled trial, quasi-experimental study) or Observational (e.g. cross-sectional, cohort, case-control).

–       Subjects / Participants: describe the characteristics of people eligible to participate in your study

–       Inclusion / exclusion criteria: describe criteria for including or excluding participants.

–       Sampling: Approach to sampling e.g. random, purposive, convenience sampling

–       Recruitment:  Explain step-by-step how participants will be recruited to participate in your study, including details of materials used to recruit.

–       Intervention details (this is only relevant if you are proposing an experimental study where you will provide an intervention).

–       Data collection: Explain the approach to data collection e.g. Surveys or secondary data.

–       Provide examples of data collection tools e.g. Key survey questions.

–       Variables: Describe the key outcome variables, exposure variables and covariates.

–       Data analysis: Explain the approach to data analysis e.g. identify correlations or test for differences between groups.

–       Provide details of statistical tests where possible.

–       Study design: e.g. Narrative literature review, systematic literature review, meta-analysis.

–       Subjects / Participants: describe the characteristics of participants included in the studies to be reviewed.

–       Inclusion / exclusion criteria: describe criteria for including or excluding studies from your review.

–       This should include clear information about the types of studies that will be reviewed, including the study designs.

–       Intervention details (this is only relevant if you are reviewing studies that evaluate the effectiveness of a particular intervention).

–       Data collection: Explain the search strategy for your literature review.

–       Databases: Explain which database you will use to search for literature e.g. PubMed, EBSCO.

–       Keywords: Explain the keywords to be used in the search.

–       Quality assessment:  Explain how you will assess the quality of the studies you will use in the review.

–       Data synthesis: Explain your approach to synthesising data from qualitative and/or quantitative studies.

–       Explain how ethical standards will be maintained throughout the study.

–       Explain how ethical approval will be sought and from which bodies e.g. UEL school research committee, NHS ethics approval.

–       Informed consent: Explain how informed consent will be sought from participants.

–       Confidentiality: Explain how participant confidentiality and anonymity will be ensured.

–       Data security: Explain how data will be kept securely throughout the study.

–       Health and safety: Explain any health and safety issue e.g. is a risk assessment needed?

–       Ethical approval is not usually required when conducting a literature review unless you plan to access sensitive data that is not publically available.

–       Reflect on the strengths and limitations of your proposed research with reference to the methods you have proposed.

–       Budget: Provide details of the resources that will be needed, including human resources and material resources.

–       Plans for dissemination:  Explain how you plan to disseminate the research findings to relevant audiences e.g. academics, researchers, community groups and participants.

–       Timetable of activities: Provide a detailed timeline of the planned research activities.