Format for submission

New study letters of intent or survey proposals can be submitted at any time to the program manager, at cpsp@cps.ca, and will be reviewed twice yearly in conjunction with CPSP Steering Committee meetings.

When applying to the CPSP to conduct a new study or one-time survey, please use the following formats for submission. In drafting your submission, it will be helpful to consult the evaluation criteria that will be used by the CPSP Scientific Steering Committee to select new studies and one-time surveys for inclusion in the Program.

Click on the links below to see the format for submission for:

Format for New Study Letters of Intent

Letters of intent for new studies should include the following information:

Investigators

  • Names of principal investigator(s) and their credentials, position, institution, and contact information
  • Names of co-investigators, their credentials, position, and institution
  • Names of any collaborators
  • Study teams should have national, multidisciplinary, and multi-centre representation

Background (maximum 600 words)

  • Background information on the disorder/condition
  • Question(s) to be addressed by the study
  • Statement of justification, addressing the need for data collection because of limited information, the need for national case ascertainment due to low incidence (fewer than 500 cases anticipated per year), importance to public or paediatric health

Methods (maximum 100 words)

  • Reasons why the CPSP is the most appropriate way to collect the data
  • Any methodology unique to the study that is outside of the usual CPSP process (e.g., reaching out to providers outside of the CPSP network who are likely to see cases)

Case definition (maximum 100 words)

  • How to identify a case including specific inclusion or exclusion criteria

Objectives (maximum 100 words)

  • Clear and achievable point-form objectives for the study (limited to three or four)

Duration

  • Anticipated length of the study (e.g., one, two, or three years)
  • Study duration should be based on the number of anticipated cases per year, to ensure sufficient data collection to draw meaningful results

Expected number of cases

  • Estimated number of cases expected to be confirmed as meeting the case definition during each year of the study
  • When no Canadian data are available, provide an approximation based on other sources (e.g., data from one province, a birth cohort, other countries, or extrapolated from other studies)

Study limitations

  • Conditions or influences outside the investigator’s control that may impact the study methodology, analysis, and/or conclusions (e.g., children/youth in remote areas may not have timely access to paediatricians, some data elements may not be readily available in medical charts)

Ethical approval

  • Name of institutions where ethical approval will be sought (one must be the Health Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada Research Ethics Board)
  • Any specific ethical considerations and justification to collect any sensitive data elements (e.g., first three digits of postal code) Any minority groups that may be disproportionately affected

Funding

  • Name(s) of organization/research institute where funding for the study will be sought

Analysis

  • How the study data will be analyzed
  • Projected date for completion of data analysis

Anticipated impact

  • Potential medical or public health impacts of the study results (e.g., informing clinical practice and/or public health policies, raising awareness among paediatricians and paediatric subspecialists)

Knowledge translation

  • A comprehensive and achievable knowledge translation plan
  • Go beyond presentations and publications in a peer-reviewed journal
  • Include how you will communicate with key stakeholders

References

  • List of citations related to the proposed study

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Format for Study Protocols

Study protocols should include the following information:

Investigators

  • Names of principal investigator(s) and their credentials, position, institution, and contact information
  • Names of co-investigators, their credentials, position, and institution
  • Names of any collaborators
  • Study teams should have national, multidisciplinary, and multi-centre representation

Background (maximum 600 words)

  • Background information on the disorder/condition
  • Question(s) to be addressed by the study
  • Statement of justification, addressing the need for data collection because of limited scientific information, the need for national case ascertainment due to low incidence (fewer than 500 cases anticipated per year), importance to public or paediatric health

Methods (maximum 100 words)

  • Brief explanation of the standard CPSP surveillance methodology.
  • Any methodology unique to the study that is outside of the usual CPSP process (e.g., reaching out to providers outside of the CPSP network who are likely to see cases)

Case definition (maximum 100 words)

  • How to identify a case including specific inclusion criteria and any exclusion criteria

Objectives (maximum 100 words)

  • Clear and achievable point-form objectives for the study (limited to three or four)

Duration

  • Confirmed length of the study (e.g., one, two, or three years)

Expected number of cases

  • Estimated number of cases expected to be confirmed as meeting the case definition during each year of the study
  • When no Canadian data are available, provide an approximation based on other sources (e.g., data from one province, a birth cohort, other countries, or extrapolated from other studies)

Study limitations

  • Conditions or influences outside the investigator’s control that may impact the study methodology, analysis, and/or conclusions (e.g., children/youth in remote areas may not have timely access to paediatricians, some data elements may not be readily available in medical charts)

Ethical approval

  • Name of institutions where ethical approval has been obtained (one must be the Health Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada Research Ethics Board)
  • Any specific ethical considerations and justification to collect any sensitive data elements (e.g., first three digits of postal code)
  • Any minority groups that may be disproportionately affected

Funding

  • Confirmed funding sources

Analysis

  • How the study data will be analyzed
  • Projected date for completion of data analysis

Anticipated impact

  • Potential medical or public health impacts of the study results (e.g., informing clinical practice guidelines or public health policies, raising awareness among paediatricians and paediatric subspecialists)

Knowledge translation

  • A comprehensive and achievable knowledge translation plan
  • Go beyond presentations and publications in a peer-reviewed journal
  • Include how you will communicate with key stakeholders

References

  • List of citations related to the proposed study

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Format for Study Clinical Questionnaires

In developing clinical questionnaires for new CPSP studies, refer to the format used in previous studies to consider the types of questions that could be included.

Study clinical questionnaires should adhere to the following guidelines:

  • The questionnaire should be no more than two to three pages in length, and take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.
  • The data elements should be clearly linked with the study objectives.
  • Questions should be simple and as intuitive to complete as possible.
  • Data elements should be readily accessible to paediatricians in the medical chart.
  • The draft questionnaire should be beta-tested with a small group of intended users outside of the study team to get feedback and make any needed improvements.

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Format for One-time Survey Proposals

    • One-time survey proposals should include the following information:

Investigators

  • Names of principal investigator(s) and their credentials, position, institution, and contact information
  • Names of co-investigators, their credentials, position, and institution
  • Names of any collaborators
  • Survey teams should have national, multidisciplinary, and multi-centre representation

Background (maximum 600 words)

  • Background information on the disorder/condition/issue, Canadian context, purpose of the survey, and appropriateness for the CPSP platform
  • Statement of justification, including, the need for data collection because of limited information, importance to public or paediatric health, etc.

Methods

  • Reasons why a CPSP survey is the most appropriate way to collect the data

Objectives

  • Clear and concise point-form objective(s) of the survey (no more than two) linked to the anticipated medical or public health impact

Ethics

  • Any specific ethical considerations and justification to collect any sensitive data elements (e.g., first three digits of postal code)
  • Any minority groups that may be disproportionately affected

Funding

  • Confirmed funding sources

Anticipated impact

  • Potential medical or public health impacts of the survey results (e.g., informing clinical practice and/or public health policies, raising awareness among paediatricians and paediatric subspecialists)

Survey limitations

  • Conditions or influences outside the investigator’s control that may impact the methodology, analysis, and/or conclusions

Knowledge translation

  • A comprehensive and achievable knowledge translation plan that goes beyond presentations and publication in a peer-reviewed journal
  • Think of opportunities to use results to inform/change clinical care guidelines and/or public health policies

Draft survey questionnaire

  • No longer than 10 to 12 questions that fit onto one single-sided page and requires no more than three minutes to complete
  • Questions must be clearly related to the survey objective(s)
  • Questions must be things the respondent can easily answer or recall without reference to other documents
  • Questions should be beta-tested with a small group of intended users to get feedback and make any needed improvements

References

  • List of citations related to the proposed survey

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