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Home | Publications | Regulations | General rules for the evaluation of surveys produced by ERA bodies

General rules for the evaluation of surveys produced by ERA bodies

Regulations

The ERA Working Groups and Committees must submit a proposal for a survey for SAB evaluation by using the dedicated Application form for surveys. Including the whole survey with questions and multiple-choice answers is mandatory.

The SAB should evaluate and then report to the Council for the final decision on the proposal of surveys prepared by ERA Committees taking into consideration the following parameters:

  1. If the survey is to be considered medical research;
  2. If the survey must be supported by a certified approval/waiver of the main coordinator’s institute Ethics Committee (EC);
  3. The aim/hypothesis and the rationale of the survey/project are clearly defined;
  4. The results of the survey/project have the potential to affect clinical practice;
  5. The target of the survey (i.e. geographical area, age, health professionals, patients, caregivers) is well-defined;
  6. Submission of consistent planning outlining the following: who is invited to complete the survey (defined clusters), how many times they will be asked to complete the survey (i.e. Delphi Method©) and their potential engagement in the project, if applicable (i.e. users completing the survey appear in the paper as co-authors);
  7. If the questionnaire proposal is adequate to address the aim/hypothesis;
  8. If the proposed study group can perform the data processing (alternative appointed/hired institution must be clearly disclosed);
  9. A clear roadmap, survey circulation schedule and description of how the data will be processed are needed;
  10. If the main outcome results have the potential to be published in a high-ranked journal and advertised via the ERA media channels;
  11. Acceptance of all mandatory conditions/requirements (see below) which must be thoughtfully followed by the main coordinator/study group/Committee.

 

MANDATORY CONDITIONS/REQUIREMENTS APPLIED TO SURVEYS CIRCULATED ON BEHALF OF THE ERA

  1. Sensitive data cannot be collected by the ERA;
  2. Surveys can collect anonymous contributions. If the main coordinator is planning to collect personal information (i.e. name, family names, e-mail addresses) the user must accept ERA’s terms and conditions and privacy policy as well as those of the centre/institution processing the data;
  3. The main coordinator/study group/Committee may appoint or hire a qualified professional data processing institution/centre, in this case, the costs of this service will be ascribed to the budget of the ERA Committee responsible for the survey;
  4. Multilanguage surveys can be set up in this case the costs of professional translations will be ascribed to the budget of the ERA Committee responsible for the survey.

 

Last update: June 2023