Table 1 Names and definitions of criteria for research prioritization
Priority setting criteria | Definitions |
|---|---|
Affordability | Research is expensive; the answering of some research questions may be more or less affordable within the context |
Answerability | Is the research question answerable in the given context? |
Attractiveness | Appeal to stakeholders/end users. Attractive to a wider range of stakeholders |
Equity | Implications for equity (fairness) in access to resources |
Feasibility | All other criteria being equal, answering some research questions may be more or less feasible in the real-world setting: issues to consider relate to acceptability of the research question, capacity of end-users to implement the research, appropriateness given the intervention context |
Novelty | Likely to generate truly innovative knowledge |
Potential for translation | Likely to generate knowledge which is usable beyond the immediate implementation context—also links to impact (Deliverable at scale) |
Potential to have impact | Impact of research questions on the implementation of the intervention Impact of the answers to research questions on the broader field of implementation studies |
Public opinion | Justified (justifiable?) and acceptable to the general public |
Involvement of end-users | Possibility of high-quality involvement of end-users of the research |
Community involvement | Possibility of high-quality involvement of the target or beneficiary communities |
Ethical aspects | Unlikely to raise ethical concerns |
Cost-effective | Research is likely to generate knowledge that is valuable (relevant, novel, useful, etc.) for money spent |
General public health benefits | Research is likely to generate knowledge that is useful for disease prevention and improving the health of people and their communities |