2001-2002 Grants and Awards Guide - Archive

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General Guidelines For All CIHR Programs

Proprietary Rights

CIHR must be informed of any commercial exploitation arising from CIHR-supported activity. However, CIHR does not claim proprietary rights to inventions resulting from research supported by its funds. The onus is on the grantee to seek patent protection in collaboration with the university or institute for inventions or developments arising from CIHR-supported research. Every effort should be made to ensure that the maximum benefit to the Canadian economy results from the application of any such discoveries.

Research in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut

Investigators planning research in Yukon, in the Northwest Territories or in Nunavut should be aware of the special requirements imposed by the individual governments. Under the Northwest Territories' Scientists Act, researchers are required to obtain a licence to conduct research in or based on the Northwest Territories. Similar requirements apply for the Yukon (The Scientists and Explorers Act) and for Nunavut (The Nunavut Scientists Act). Information can be obtained from:

Aurora Research Institute
Box 1450
Inuvik, N.W.T. X0E 0T0

Tel.: (867) 777-3298
Fax: (867) 777-4264
www.nwtresearch.com

Director, Heritage Branch
Department of Tourism
Government of the Yukon
Box 2703
Whitehorse, Y.T.
Y1A 2C6

Tel.: (867) 667-5386
Fax: (867) 667-8023

The Nunavut Research Institute
P.O. Box 1720
Iqaluit, NT X0A 0H0

Tel: (867) 979-6734
Fax: (867) 979-4681

The Meanings of Signatures on Application Forms

The signature(s) of the applicant(s) assures CIHR that:

1. The information provided in the application is complete and accurate and consistent with Institutional policies to the best of the applicant's knowledge. The provision of false or inaccurate information may result in sanctions, including the termination of funding.

2. The applicant(s) accepts the terms and conditions for the application and for any grant or award that may result, as set out in the CIHR Grants and Awards Guide;

3. The applicant(s) authorizes CIHR and the Institution to release to each other scientific, administrative or personal information pertaining to the application, or the funds awarded as a result of the application;

4. The applicant(s) has not been barred from applying to any other research funding organization for reasons of breach of standards of ethics or integrity.

Signatures from Institutional administrative officials certify to CIHR that the Institution will:

1. administer any grant or award received as a result of the application according to CIHR's policies as set out in the Grants and Awards Guide;

2. investigate by appropriate procedures any allegations of conduct inconsistent with CIHR policies in connection with any CIHR application of funds;

3. report to CIHR the results of any investigation that concludes that an applicant or recipient of funds has infringed CIHR's policies.

Ethics

By signing applications to Canadian Institutes of Health Research, applicants and administrators undertake that any research carried out with funds from CIHR will respect all of CIHR's requirements for the ethical conduct of research as expressed in policy documents.

In general, the following policy statements place primary responsibility on the researchers, and require the institutions in which the research is to be conducted to have in place the monitoring and review committees defined in the guidelines. CIHR reserves the right to deny or withdraw funding if the investigator or the institution does not comply with the following guidelines;

1. Research Involving Humans

   Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans: Tri-Council Policy Statement (1998), available from the following website: www.nserc.ca/programs/ethics/english/policy.htm

   Any research involving human subjects must be approved by the appropriate local review committee, established and operating in accordance with the relevant CIHR statements of policy, before the research is started. The institution is responsible for withholding CIHR funds for the researcher(s) until the required approvals have been given.

2. Research Involving Animals

   Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals (Vol 1: first published in 1980 and revised in 1993, and Vol 2: 1984): prepared by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) and available from:

   Canadian Council on Animal Care
   315-350 Albert Street
   Ottawa ON K1R 1B1

   Telephone: (613) 238-4031
   Fax: (613) 238-2837

   Any research involving animals must be approved by the appropriate local review committee, established and operating in accordance with the relevant CCAC statements of policy, before the research is started. The institution is responsible for withholding CIHR funds for the researcher(s) until the required approvals have been given.

3. Scientific Misconduct

   Integrity in Research and Scholarship (1994): a Tri-Council Policy Statement prepared jointly with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, available from the following web site: www.nserc.ca/programs/resguide.

4. Research with Infectious Agents

   Guidelines on Laboratory Biosafety (1996), prepared jointly with Health Canada, and available from:

   Office of Biosafety
   Laboratory Centre for Disease Control
   Health Protection Branch
   Health Canada
   Postal Locator 07-00A1
   HPB Building # 7, Room 1374
   Tunney's Pasture Ottawa ON K1A 0L2

   Telephone: (613) 957-1779
   Fax: (613) 941-0596

   Any research involving those agents identified in the Guidelines on Laboratory Biosafety must be approved by the appropriate local review committee, established and operating in accordance with the relevant CIHR statements of policy, before the research is started. The institution is responsible for withholding CIHR funds for the researcher(s) until the required approvals have been given.

5. Research Involving Radioactive Materials

   Information on the requirements for research involving radioactive materials is available from:

   Office of Public Information Atomic Energy Control Board
   P.O. Box 1046, Station "B"
   280 Slater Street
   Ottawa ON K1P 5S9

   Telephone: (613) 995-5894
   Fax: (613) 995-5086

6. Disposal of Hazardous Materials

   With regard to the requirements for disposal of hazardous materials, researchers and institutions are responsible for compliance with federal, provincial and municipal requirements for disposal of chemical and biological wastes, and for their use in the workplace.

Official Language Policy

In accordance with government policy, CIHR undertakes to provide all its services in both official languages.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Acts

The Access to Information (ATI) Act gives Canadian citizens and people present in Canada a limited right of access to information in federal government records. The Privacy Act gives the same individuals a limited right of access to personal information about themselves held in government records and sets out rules and fair practices for the management of personal information by federal institutions. All information collected by CIHR is subject to these laws.

The Access to Information Act

A requester seeking access to records under the Access to Information Act must write to the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Acts Co-ordinator at CIHR providing a precise description of the records sought and enclosing an application fee ($5.00 at the time of writing). The submission of a request does not guarantee that a requester will gain complete access to the requested records. The Act sets out specific exceptions that apply when disclosure of information could be expected to injure private or public interests. In responding to such requests, for example, CIHR would not disclose personal information about identifiable individuals or proprietary technical information submitted in confidence by researchers or companies without consulting with the third parties. Moreover, if a request requires a lengthy search or involves a large number of records, a requester can be asked to pay additional fees to help cover the processing costs.

More information about the Act can be obtained by contacting CIHR's Access to Information and Privacy Acts Coordinator or from the publication Info Source, a register of federal information holdings available in most large libraries. It is important to remember that the ATI Act is intended to complement, not to replace, established channels of communication. CIHR has always promoted open, informal communication with the research community and with the public. We encourage you to continue to contact us informally before using the Acts.

The Privacy Act

The Privacy Act gives people in Canada certain rights with respect to personal information about them held by a federal institution. For example, the institution must inform people from (or about) whom they collect personal information, how it will be used and to whom it will be disclosed. Personal information may be used only for the purposes for which it was originally collected or for uses consistent with that purpose. The Act also contains a procedure for requesting the correction of inaccuracies in personal information.

Making a request under the Privacy Act is similar to making one under the Access to Information Act except that there are no fees associated with a request to see personal information. The Privacy Act sets out limits to the right of access similar to those contained in the Access to Information Act. For example, a person seeking access to their personal information would not be given access to personal information about another person.

Applicants do not have to use the Privacy Act to obtain information on your CIHR application or to access personal information about you held in CIHR files. Simply write informally to CIHR. Under the Privacy Act, the written opinion of a reviewer about your grant proposal or scholarship is available to the applicant, but remember the name of the reviewer is not. For the award programs, letters of reference and assessment reports will be made available to the applicant upon request.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR

All personal information collected by CIHR about applicants is used to review applications, to administer and monitor awards and to promote and support biomedical research in Canada. Consistent with these purposes, applicants should also expect that information collected by CIHR may come to be used and disclosed in the following activities;

As part of the peer-review process, applications are disclosed to review committees composed of experts recruited from the academic, public and private sectors. Many applications are also transmitted to external referees and site visit committees for review. All participants in these review activities are informed of CIHR's obligation with regard to the confidentiality and protection of the information entrusted to them.

The external reviews and review committee comments about a proposal are provided only to the applicants. CIHR expects the principal applicant to share this information with the co-applicants.

For the purposes of adjudication and award administration for grant renewal applications, review committees are provided with a CIHR financial history of an individual in grant programs. This information is also used when there is a question of possible overlap in the support of an applicant's research activities within CIHR's program. Application material submitted to one program may be used during the review of an application submitted to another program. In addition, in exceptional circumstances, application material submitted to and review documents resulting from a previous competition, may be consulted during the review of an application.

Applications may be disclosed to program staff at Health Canada, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council or Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council for the purpose of determining the most appropriate funding jurisdiction or to monitor overlap in federal support.

Applications and the outcome of the peer review may also be disclosed to partners, as necessary, to facilitate funding decisions.

CIHR routinely publishes and disseminates certain details about successful grant applications, including the name of the applicant, amount awarded, institution, department, title of project and summary of the research proposal prepared by the applicant for public release. For salary support and trainee awards, the name, the proposed location of tenure, the field of research and the project title will be made publicly available immediately after the competition, even though CIHR recognizes some awards will be subsequently declined or deferred.

Files and databases containing personal information may also be used by CIHR for program planning, evaluation, review and audits, and for generating statistics for these activities. This information is also used to generate mailing lists for dissemination of CIHR publications and other information to the research community.

On all CIHR application forms the sex of the applicant is requested, but this is to be supplied on a voluntary basis only. This information is not used in the peer-review process. It is used to promote the increased participation of women in CIHR programs, on CIHR committees and to generate statistics.

To file a formal request, or for more information on the Acts, contact:

ATIP Coordinator
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
410 Laurier Avenue W., 9th Floor
Address Locator 4209A
Ottawa ON K1A 0W9

Telephone: (613) 954-1944
Fax: (613) 954-1800

Human Rights Act

The activities of CIHR are subject to the Human Rights Act. The purpose of the Act is to give effect to the principle that every individual should have equal opportunity with other individuals to make for himself or herself the life that he or she is able and wishes to have, consistent with his or her duties and obligations as a member of society, without being hindered or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices.

For all purposes of the Act, race, nationality or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, marital status, family status, disability and conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted are prohibited grounds of discrimination. Where the grounds is pregnancy or childbirth, the discrimination is deemed to be on the grounds of sex. It is a discriminatory practice to deny a service to an individual or to differentiate adversely in relation to any individual in the provision of that service.

Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support

CIHR support to health research is an investment by Canadian taxpayers. Informing the public on who receives the support, the type of health research that will be conducted, the centres where the research will be conducted and how funds will be administered is essential to CIHR's accountability in the use of public funds.

When decisions are made on awards and competitions, principal investigators will liaise with the Communications Branch of the CIHR and the communications services of their centre to inform the public, through the news media, of the award and the nature of the research to be conducted or continued, and to acknowledge CIHR's support.

As research progresses, interim presentations are planned or results of research are published or announced, principal investigators will promptly notify in advance CIHR's Communications Branch and the communications services of their centre to seek opportunities for optimizing dissemination of information to the public and for ensuring appropriate recognition of the return on investment of public funds.

The publication, Dealing with the Media, contains information that may be useful for grantees and awardees when interacting with journalists. Please contact the communications services of your centre or CIHR's Communications Branch for advice and information on how to maximize opportunities for efficient and effective communication with the public on your research project.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
410 Laurier Ave W, 9th floor
Postal Locator 4209A
Ottawa ON K1A 0W9

Telephone.: (613) 954-1812
Fax: (613) 954-6653
E-mail: mchartrand@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Publications

CIHR expects funded investigators to disseminate their research findings through peer-reviewed publication in quality journals and other media so that their work will have the maximum impact and utility. While investigators are free to choose the most appropriate vehicle, they are reminded to consider one of the National Research Council Research Press Journals (URL: www.cisti.nrc.ca/cisti/journals), or other Canadian journals, among the options for publishing their work.

Policy and Guidelines on Publications and Productivity

An important evaluation criterion in any grants program is the excellence of the researcher. CIHR evaluates this by assessing the stature of the applicant in the field, his/her knowledge of the field and demonstrated expertise, and the quality and impact of contributions to the field.

The research process is not complete until the results are validated and openly transmitted to an appropriate target audience. For most disciplines, the most common and effective means of disseminating results is through the publication of articles in high-quality refereed journals. However, other means of dissemination exist, and the onus is on the researcher to select the most appropriate vehicle to ensure maximum impact on the field. By publishing in a variety of journals, researchers can demonstrate acceptance of their work by more than a single editorial board.

Assessment of Quality

The ultimate tests of quality of any publication or research contribution are its significance and use by other researchers and end-users, and the extent to which it influences the direction of thought and activity in the target community. Evaluation of this, while subjective, is a central element of peer review.

Peer review committees are advised by CIHR to neither rely on numbers of publications in their assessment of productivity nor create or use lists of "prestigious" or "unacceptable" journals in their assessment of quality. The quality of the publication's content is the determining factor, not that of the journal in which it appears.

Forms of Publication

There are many valid types of publications, including: books, monographs, memoirs or special papers, review articles, conference/symposia proceedings and abstracts, government publications, reports documenting industrial contributions to engineering practice. Each type has its place and advantages, and there is much variation between and within disciplines.

CIHR advises its peer review committees to evaluate the quality and impact of such contributions and not to regard them as "second class" or "grey literature."

Some fast-moving research fields, such as some areas of computing science, genetics, or microelectronics, use special means to reach the target audience quickly. Communications, quick-print reports, letters and even broad distribution of pre-prints are important vehicles for disseminating research results. Peer review committees rely on the specialist knowledge of their members to evaluate the relative merit and significance of such publications

Contributions to Multi-Authored Papers

Publications are often prepared jointly with students, postdoctoral fellows, other researchers, etc. Applicants should describe their intellectual contribution to collaborative work or joint publications in their application where indicated.

Delays in the Research and in Dissemination of Research Results

From time to time, situations may arise that make it impossible or undesirable for researchers to publish important results of their research prior to applying for CIHR support. For example, the time required to complete a monograph may exceed the time available between consecutive applications, or publication may be delayed to allow technology transfer or the protection of a patent.

CIHR recognizes that research productivity may vary during periods of pregnancy or early child care, whether or not a formal leave of absence is taken, or as a result of other personal circumstances. Administrative leave, disability, and other situations may also result in publication delays.

Applicants should clearly and fully describe any circumstances that affect dissemination of research results in their application. CIHR advises its committees to be sensitive to the impact of these circumstances on the level of productivity while ensuring that the quality of the research remains competitive. Each case is reviewed on its own merits.