Writing and Editing the Research Proposal

1. Writing and Editing the Research Proposal November 16, 2004 Jeanne Erdmann

2. Today’s Presentation • Practical advice and encouragement • Levels of editing • Writing tips you can follow when you write a manuscript or grant • Useful web sites

3. Why Me? • Patients • Research • Teaching • Mentoring • Family obligations

4. Guess What? That’s why it’s called: Peer Review

5. Reviewer’s Workload • 80 applications to review three times a year • 16 personal assignments--proposals reviewer must read and be prepared to discuss • 6 reviews to write three-four pages each single spaced • 4 weeks to get it done • 2 days away from home (Source: ORS grant writing seminar)

6. Think About That Reviewer… • It's late, and your reviewer has had a long busy day. He/she has already read five grants. Yours is next…… • What kind of impression are you going to make? • Every year the NIH turns down good proposals worthy of funding. What can you do about that? • Write a great proposal.

7. Here’s What You Can Control • Strong idea • Ability to carry it through • The strength of your writing • Your time (When you write a grant or manuscript—learn to protect your time)

8. Learn to Read Like a Writer • You already read medical journals. • Reading will help you write. • Train yourself to read like a writer—examine structure, writing style, overall organization, such as use of subheads. • You are already familiar with the process of research: Writing is a similar process.

9. What is Good Writing? • Clear and unambiguous sentences • Clear and logical transitions • Correct grammar: Correct spelling and punctuation No misplaced modifiers

10. Think Before You Write • Think….don’t write... • First, choose a focused hypothesis. • Editing and rewriting will comprise the bulk of your writing time. More time spent planning means less time spent editing and rewriting.

11. Before You Begin Writing • Give your grant or manuscript a clear, explanatory title. • Outline. • Search literature choose papers going to discuss. • Begin writing only when you can summarize what you want do do in one sentence. • Write your abstract first.

12. Why Write Your Abstract First? • Clear, concise summary of your proposal. • Includes the major concepts that reflect the scope of your proposal. • First place to show the strength of your idea, …. • …First impression of your work: Cutting and pasting the introduction from your Research Plan into your abstract is lazy. (Respecting your reviewer’s time will pay off…so, put some thought into your abstract).

13. Write Clear Sentences • Single thought per sentence. Real life (bad) example: Young cartilage cells, which provide the Company’s proprietary restorative process, possess unique immune-privileged status with a naturally enhanced capacity to generate new cartilage.

14. Make Every Word Count • Bad:   We expect that this service will result in marked improvements in patient outcomes. [vague, verbose] • Good: This service will prevent peri-operativepulmonary emboli. (Example from Dr. Gage)

15. Your First Draft is Finished • If you’ve taken this advice…thinking, planning, outlining, then you have a decent first draft…. • Now, the real work begins.

16. Good Writing Means Careful Editing Three levels of editing: • Edit for mistakes (grammar, spelling, mislabeled figures, and visual mistakes such as line spacing). • Edit for clarity. • Edit for overall appearance. Everyone here can write a 25-page research proposal. The real work and the real payoff is in the editing.

17. Edit for Clarity • Define abbreviations. • Use transitions from paragraph to paragraph and section to section. • Don’t bury your point underneath long introductory clauses. • Vary sentence length. • Rewrite ambiguous sentences.

18. Edit for Edit for Clarity (Misreads) • Are any of your sentences ambiguous? Bad:   Prior to leaving the hospital, the nurse will review each prescribed medication. [sounds like the nurse is leaving] Good: Prior to patient discharge, the floor nurse will review each prescribed medication. (Example from Dr. Gage)

19. Edit for Appearance • Consistent font • Consistent line spacing • Break up text with bullets • Use drawings and figures when possible • Use subheads

20. Cut Unnecessary Words “Consensus” –not- “Consensus of opinion” “To” - not -“In order to” “Despite”-not-“Despite the fact that”

21. Easy to Read? • The Title and Abstract should reflect the focus of the work you are proposing. • Your manuscript should flow from sentence to sentence, from paragraph to paragraph, from section to section, from beginning to end…. • To double check, read out loud: Read the first sentence each paragraph. Read your subject headings.

22. Grant Writing Tips Lift your proposal out of the "good" pile

23. Begin 3 Months Before the Deadline • Might find you need more data. • Need time make certain idea original. • Need time provide details methodology. • Lack of attention to detail will bury you: Budget, face sheets, letters from collaborators take time to assemble. • Allows time for a cold reading. • Nancy Shinowara a SRO at the NIH said this to me: "It’s a mistake not to spend a lot of time on grants. Sloppy work really ticks off reviewers.”

24. What Makes a Strong Proposal? • A great idea. • Information that convinces the study section that you are capable of following through. • NB: Statistics…if your proposal requires power calculations either show you are capable or find a good collaborator. • A clearly written and well organized proposal can push a borderline idea into the pay line.

25. Tell a Good Story • Never forget context: Every section of your proposal should mention the relevance of your idea. For example: The Research Plan is not a review article. It’s where you show the timeliness of your idea by answering, “Why now”? When you discuss the literature, bring up your project idea and why it’s relevant. • Remain focused while writing.

26. Tone and Appearance To make your grant readable and understandable here's some advice from Anthony M. Coelho, Ph.D., NIH: • For organization think USA Today – clear, readable, text nice little chunks, lots of pictures. • For tone think Scientific American. • Making your reviewer's job easy is not the same as “dumbing down”.

27. Strive for Perfection • You will never send in a grant that’s free of any errors or ambiguities. Try anyway. • A well-written grant can push a borderline grant over the top. • NIAMS past few year, the payline stopped in the 190s—that’s in the excellent to outstanding range. Any score was 250 or over was "streamlined" (not discussed).

28. Letters of Support • Don't submit letter from collaborator or supporter with one or two lame sentences ("I have great enthusiasm for this proposal"). • Instead, submit one rich in detail. If you have a collaborator what is he/she going to do? When? Where? How? • Write this letter yourself. Tell your collaborator that you know he/she’s busy and your "helping" them out by providing a draft letter.

29. Have a Colleague Read the Grant • Find someone whose opinion you trust, and ask that person to read your grant. • You don’t want to hear how wonderful a writer you are, you want substantive feedback. • Don’t take criticism personally, your study section will be far more critical.

30. Avoid Common Problems • Again, follow the directions--page length, margin size, and the order in which you put everything together. • Don’t go over page length (It’s not OK to put preliminary data into an appendix). • Make certain that you are not proposing to do too much work. • Write a reasoned, critical research plan that includes the pitfalls of your approach and how you will handle them. Better for you to address potential problem areas and how you will deal with them than leave reviewers wondering. • (Source NIH Writing Workshops)

31. Get to Know the Staff at Funding Agencies • Call them; discuss your idea. The staff can help you decide whether your project is ready for funding. When in doubt—ask. • Once agency staff knows you, your phone calls are returned more quickly. • Attend at least one grant writing seminar. Bring your specific aims page; get some feedback.

32. If At First You Don’t Succeed If you need to write a revision: • Read your critique carefully and pay close attention to reviewer’s comments. • If a reviewer seems to have missed the point, blame yourself for not making the writing clear enough. For example, “Needs collaboration with immunologist…” • When you write your revision, make certain that you’ve addressed every criticism.

33. Final Reminder • Don’t even be tempted to turn in a less-than-stellar effort. Study sections have long memories and you will get a reputation that will be difficult to turn around. • Don't run everything to the last minute but just in case you do…FedEx has same-day service to the NIH, around $180; you need to call them before 6 a.m.

34. Where to Get Grammar Help • Books: “Bugs in Writing: A Guide to Debugging Prose” by Lynn Dupre “A Writer’s Reference” by Diana Hacker • Web Sites: Go to a search engine type “grammar” find site that you find useful.

35. Websites for Grant Writing • http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/EXTRA/EXTDOCS/gntapp.htm • http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1999/09/20/2

36. What, me worry? Jeanne Erdmann 649 Dyer Road Wentzville, MO 63385 636-398-6241 erdmannj@nasw.org