CQUniversity Unit Profile.

The submission of the Research Proposal is a compulsory, non-graded task (pass/resubmit/discontinue). It is required to be submitted and passed in order for enrolment to continue in Research Project B in the following term. The proposal ensures that students and supervisors are on track and have a project that is feasible to be completed within the Honours year and meets Australian Psychology Accreditation Council requirements. Students are expected to submit a well-written workable proposal. All proposals will be assessed by an independent assessor who will provide feedback and recommendations regarding the project.

The proposal should be submitted following discussions, review and feedback of the final draft by the supervisors. The supervisor can review the overall proposal document only once. The Research Proposal must be submitted via Moodle.

If the submitted proposal is marked as 'Pass': Feedback from the assessor may be considered, but no revisions to the proposal are necessary before progressing the thesis project.

If the submitted proposal is marked as 'Resubmit': In this common instance, feedback from the assessor will need to be considered and responded to in a line-by-line fashion and a resubmitted proposal with revisions addressing the assessor's concerns will need to be resubmitted and receive a 'Pass' mark before progressing the thesis project. The resubmitted proposal will be required to be submitted alongside a line-by-line response to assessor comments within 2 weeks of receiving feedback. A student who fails to resubmit will not be permitted to continue their Research Project.

If the submitted proposal is marked as 'Discontinue': In this rare instance where a proposal is not examined as feasible/acceptable or the supervisor does not support the continuation of the proposed project, and the recommendation of the independent assessor is that the student discontinues, the student will be notified that the proposal has failed to be supported and he or she cannot enroll in Research Project B that year. The student will be automatically withdrawn without academic penalty from Part A and automatically dropped from Part B. In the event that the supervisor and the independent assessor do not agree, the head of course for and/or head of college will assess the proposal.

1. Format and contents of the research proposal – Quantitative/Qualitative Research

Formatting: The Research Proposal should be submitted as a PDF with APA version 7 formatting, double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font. No more than 2500 words, including tables and to be formatted as follows:

Title Page (not included in the word count): Project Title, Student Name, Unit, Supervisor(s), Date and Word Count.

Include information under each heading in bold below.

Note that we have provided recommended word counts for each section, but these are only guides and it may be that your sections vary from that. The word count you must abide by is the 2,500 word total.

Introduction (~750-900 words)

· This section is sometimes referred to as rationale, or theory.

· The introduction includes a comprehensive critical appraisal of relevant research. This means using good sources of information to provide a critical account of the research. Provide the justification as to why your research should proceed.

· All key terms should be defined, and the paragraphs linked in a logical way.

· A short justification on the significance of the project and the potential implications of your findings i.e., how will the project contribute to existing knowledge/literature?

· Justification for your aims/hypotheses/research questions (i.e., what is the evidence that supports your anticipated effects).

· State the research objectives (aims), the key research questions/hypotheses. Ensure hypotheses are specific and where appropriate include a proposed direction (e.g., higher/lower values, negative/positive association). Aims/hypotheses/research questions demonstrate considerable insight into the outstanding research issues.

Methods

Participants and Recruitment (recommended ~100-150 words): target population, and recruitment methods (i.e., the recruitment process) and sources. State the inclusion and exclusion criteria of participants/units of study. Include descriptions of estimated sample size (and rationale for that) that includes a description of all the parameters (e.g., alpha value, beta value, justification for the effect size chosen).

Design (recommended ~50-100 words): a brief description of the study design that is required to test the hypotheses/answer the research question e.g., systematic review, survey, qualitative study with focus groups, laboratory study etc.

Procedure (recommended ~250-400 words): Outline chronologically the proposed method/s (procedure), including data collection techniques, tasks participants will be asked to complete, estimated time commitment required of them. The study could be replicated reliably and consistently by an independent observer.

Measures (recommended ~250-300 words). Describe each measure and discuss the validity and reliability of the measures included, how variables are scored and how they should be interpreted (e.g., high score indicates high X).

Do not include appendices, rather make sure that you have outlined broad measures and include in text citations for the measures you will be using in your proposed research.

Proposed Data Management (recommended ~50-100 words) include a description of how all data will be managed (e.g., where data will be stored, how it will be coded, etc)

Data Analyses (recommended ~150-250 words): Describe the planned analyses for the study, including all software that will be used, and assumption testing plans for each statistical test. Make sure that you link each of your analyses to each of your hypotheses/study aims.

Potential Ethical Issues (recommended ~50-200 words): Consider the potential ethical issues that will/may arise from the study including risks to participants, researchers, and outside communities. There is no such thing as a risk-free study. Remember to talk about how you will manage/mitigate potential risk.

Target Journal (recommended ~100 words): This should list the name of a scientific journal that is suitable to submit your study to, if you were to submit your thesis for publication. Please list the name of the journal and include 2-3 sentences describing why you picked this journal. Ask your supervisory team what is important to consider when picking a journal. Consider your target audience, journal impact factor/standing in your field.

Reference list (Not included in word count): Use APA version 7 formatting.

2. Format and contents of the research proposal – Systematic Review

Formatting: The Research Proposal should be submitted as a PDF with APA version 7 formatting, double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font. No more than 2500 words, including tables and to be formatted as follows:

Title Page (not included in the word count): Project Title, Student Name, Unit, Supervisor(s), Date and Word Count.

Include information under each heading in bold below.

Note that we have provided recommended word counts for each section, but these are only guides and it may be that your sections vary from that. The word count you must abide by is the 2,500 word total.

Introduction (~750-900 words)

· This section is sometimes referred to as rationale, or theory.

· The introduction includes a comprehensive critical appraisal of relevant research. This means using good sources of information to provide a critical account of the research. Provide the justification as to why your research should proceed.

· All key terms should be defined, and the paragraphs linked in a logical way.

· A short justification on the significance of the project and the potential implications of your findings i.e., how will the project contribute to existing knowledge/literature?

· Justification for your aims/hypotheses/research questions (i.e., what is the evidence that supports your anticipated effects).

· State the research objectives (aims), the key research questions/hypotheses. Ensure hypotheses are specific and where appropriate include a proposed direction (e.g., higher/lower values, negative/positive association). Aims/hypotheses/research questions demonstrate considerable insight into the outstanding research issues.

Methods

Design (recommended ~50-100 words): state whether PRISMA will be used and if the review will be registered in PROSPERO or another server (e.g., Open Science Framework).

Eligibility Criteria (recommended ~100-150 words): Specify the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the review and how studies were grouped for the syntheses. State any frameworks that will be used to determine eligibility (e.g., PICO, PECO). Ensure the primary outcomes are stated clearly as well as any secondary outcomes.

Information Sources (recommended ~100 words): Specify all databases, registers, websites, organisations, reference lists and other sources searched or consulted to identify studies. Specify the date when each source was last searched or consulted. Include information on any initial literature scoping how articles will be found (e.g., backward/forward citation checking).

Search Strategy (recommended ~100 words): Present the full search strategy (e.g., keywords and databases) that will be used

Selection Process (recommended ~250 words): Specify the methods used to decide whether a study met the inclusion criteria of the review, including how many reviewers screened each record and each report retrieved, whether they worked independently. Discuss management process with duplicates, what the process will be if the full text cannot be found, how disagreements between screeners will be resolved.

Data Collection Process (recommended ~50-100 words) include a description of how all data will be managed (e.g., where data will be stored, how it will be coded etc). Specify the methods used to collect data from reports, including how many reviewers will collect data from each article, whether they worked independently, any processes for obtaining or confirming data from study investigators.

Data Items (recommended ~200 words) List and define all outcomes for which data will be sought (e.g., what data will be extracted and how many investigators will extract data). Specify whether all results that were compatible with each outcome domain in each study will be sought (e.g. for all measures, time points, analyses), and if not, the methods used to decide which results to collect. List and define all other variables for which data were sought (e.g. participant and intervention characteristics, funding sources). Describe any assumptions that will be made about any missing or unclear information.

Study Risk of Bias Assessment and/or Certainty Assessment (recommended ~100 words): Specify the methods used to assess risk of bias in the included studies, including details of the tool(s) used, how many reviewers assessed each study and whether they worked independently. Describe any methods used to assess certainty (or confidence) in the body of evidence for an outcome.

Synthesis Methods (recommended ~100 words): Describe the processes used to decide which studies were eligible for each synthesis. Describe any methods used to synthesize results and provide a rationale for the choice(s) (e.g., themes, meta-analysis, forest plots). If meta-analysis was performed, describe the model(s), method(s) to identify the presence and extent of statistical heterogeneity, and software package(s) used.

Target Journal (recommended ~100 words): This should list the name of a scientific journal that is suitable to submit your study to, if you were to submit your thesis for publication. Please list the name of the journal and include 2-3 sentences describing why you picked this journal. Ask your supervisory team what is important to consider when picking a journal. Consider your target audience, journal impact factor/standing in your field.

Reference list (Not included in word count): Use APA version 7 formatting.

All aspects of the research proposal will be taken into account and scored by an independent reviewer on aspects including the background/rationale/research questions/hypotheses, the proposed design and methods, participants and recruitment, and data management and analyses. Reviewers will be asked to assess whether the proposal achieved a 'pass'/'resubmit'/''discontinue' and provide comments in written form which will be returned to the student so that the student may improve their thesis project into the next term project.

You must complete an ethics application, but the process for this will depend on if you are conducting a new study, completing a systematic review or using existing data.

You are encouraged to utilise your proposal feedback before submitting an ethics application, however you can submit your ethics application, with your supervisors’ approval, at any time.

New Study Ethics Approval Procedures:

1. All ethics material for a new study can be found in ‘Assessment 2 – Ethics Application – Materials for New Study’ on the Moodle site. Use the New Study Ethics Approval Form and relevant templates to prepare your ethics application.

2. Your primary supervisor must be listed as Chief Investigator and you, the student, as Associate Investigator, however, you are expected to take responsibility for the completion and submission of the application.

3. Send all materials to supervisory team for feedback, and once feedback has been integrated, have them sign the form. All application materials must be signed and approved by the supervisory team prior to submission.

4. Submit the ethics application to CQUniversity's Human Research Ethics Committee by sending it via email to ethics@cqu.edu.au.

5. Submit your ethics application and a copy of your email showing you've sent it to the ethics committee via Moodle.

6. Receive feedback from ethics committee (~3-5 weeks from submission) and address any issues raised by revision of the application by resubmitting to the ethics committee.

7. You must not start any aspect of the study until you have full approval from the ethics committee to do so.

8. Please note that all contact with outside agencies for the purpose of permission to conduct a study will be made by the student with their Supervisor’s awareness.

9. If there are any changes to your study procedures needed following ethical approval, submit a modification form by sending it via email to ethics@cqu.edu.au. Do not deviate from the procedures that you have approval for from the ethics committee until modifications have been approved.

10. As the ethics committee operates outside and independently of the course, enquiries regarding the status of an application should be directed to the Ethics Committee (ethics@cqu.edu.au) rather than the thesis coordinator or head of course.

Study Using Existing Data

1. Complete the ‘Assessment 2 – Ethics Application – Form for Existing Data and Systematic Reviews’ form which is under the Assessment Brief and Resources on the Moodle site.

2. If your study is using existing data please also submit via Moodle proof of permission from relevant ethics committee that you have been authorised to access the data.

3. Send all materials to supervisory team for feedback and revise accordingly.

4. Submit the form on Moodle (Note: You will not be getting feedback on your ethics application other than the Pass/Fail mark)

Systematic Review

1. Complete the ‘Assessment 2 – Ethics Application – Form for Existing Data and Systematic Reviews’ form which is under the Assessment Brief and Resources on the Moodle site.

2. Choose one original study that will likely be included in your systematic review. This may be a qualitative or quantitative experimental study, but it must involve data collection in the methods section.

3. Complete the ethics application as if you were conducting this study, outlining the ethical risks and potential mitigations.

4. Send all materials to supervisory team for feedback and revise accordingly.

5. Submit the form on Moodle (Note: You will not be getting feedback on your ethics application other than the Pass/Fail mark)

Applications to the Animal Research Ethics Committee: Students who require ethics approval for animal-based research should consult directly with their supervisor and to the Thesis Coordinators in the first instance.

If students have followed the instructions and there are no ethical concerns for the study raised from the examiners, then the grade will be 'Pass'. Data collection of new studies must not proceed until the ethics application has received full approval through the CQUniversity research ethics committee.