title: The development and application of audit criteria for assessing knowledge exchange plans in health research grant applications.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research funders expect evidence of end user engagement and impact plans in research proposals. Drawing upon existing frameworks, we developed audit criteria to help researchers and their institutions assess the knowledge exchange plans of health research proposals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Criteria clustered around five themes: problem definition; involvement of research users; public and patient engagement; dissemination and implementation; and planning, management and evaluation of knowledge exchange. We applied these to a sample of grant applications from one research institution in the United Kingdom to demonstrate feasibility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our criteria may be useful as a tool for researcher self-assessment and for research institutions to assess the quality of knowledge exchange plans and identify areas for systematic improvement.
authors.forename: Alexa I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Ruppertsberg
authors.forename: Vicky
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ridout
authors.forename: Robbie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foy
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006113:United Kingdom