Category: Tools for Research

SSHRC Launches Talent Achievement Report

SSHRC has launched the Talent Achievement Report, a new, more user-friendly end-of-award electronic report that replaces the existing final report used by SSHRC fellowship and scholarship award holders. Similar to the Insight, Connection and Partnership Achievement Reports, this new report will improve SSHRC’s capacity to collect and measure outcomes and impacts of funded activities and reduce the administrative burden for award recipients. The information provided in these reports is of great value to SSHRC as it is a vital input to planning and strategy setting.

The new Talent Achievement Report is currently available to all doctoral and postdoctoral award recipients on SSHRC’s website. It is in a survey format on Fluidsurveys, a secure web platform, and must be submitted within six months of the end of the scholarship/fellowship period. More detailed information related to the Talent Achievement Report is available on SSHRC’s website.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

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Human Research Ethics – New Educational Resources for Participants

The Panel on Research Ethics has announced a new set of educational resources to assist people who are participating in research or are considering joining a research study. This material offers information about how the ethics guidance in the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans (TCPS) provides protection for research participants. It is intended for a broad audience.

The brochure “Taking Part in Research” provides basic information online and in print about participation in research.

“Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Participants” provides more specific information on topics such as privacy, risks and benefits, and consent, based on TCPS guidance.

These new resources are available online for the general public. Researchers are encouraged to use them to enhance their communication when recruiting participants, or during the course of study. Research ethics boards and institutions can use the resources in their educational efforts and in raising public awareness about the ethics of research involving humans.

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How Does a Modern Researcher Use a Web Archive?

How Does a Modern Researcher Use a Web Archive?

Informal Talk and Conversation with

Dr. Ian Milligan

November 22, 2017 12:30-2:30 AHB 2B04 (NOTE DATE CHANGE)

All are welcome to hear Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant recipient Ian Milligan, Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Waterloo and principal investigator of the Web Archives for Historical Research group, speak about his research into web archives, the WALK project  and the Archives Unleashed Project,  a suite of tools to help others delve into the big data of web archives.

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Canada’s Largest Study on Aging – Data Available to Researchers

Canada’s health researchers have access to a valuable national research platform to answer important questions related to health and aging.

Launched in 2010, the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) involves 51,000 Canadians, aged 45 to 85 at recruitment, who will be followed for 20 years.

The platform includes data on health status, physical assessments, diseases, cognition, psychological well-being and mental health, social well-being, economic aspects of aging, and blood-based biological markers.

The initial baseline data set is now ready and available for use by researchers and trainees working in all areas of health and psychosocial well-being. Follow-up data collection events will be repeated every three years for 20 years.

Visit the CLSA website to find out more about the platform and how you can access the data for your research.

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Western’s New Online System for Human Research Ethics

The Office of Human Research Ethics will launch its new online protocol submission platform on September 7, 2017. Western Research Ethics Manager (WesternREM) is being implemented to streamline the human ethics submission process, and to allow users to better track a protocol’s progress throughout its review. It also addresses a number of concerns and issues users experienced with ROMEO.

For ongoing information related to the rollout of WesternREM, please visit the dedicated rollout website.

This software tool will replace Western’s ROMEO.

There will be frequent training sessions to prepare the research community for launch:

  • You can register for general training sessions taking place throughout July, August and September. For a full list of dates, please visit the OWL portal

(Training includes either a) WesternREM training only or b) WesternREM and ReDA  (only for Lawson researchers)  training together. NOTE: if you book a session that includes ReDA training, but it is not applicable to you, please come 50 minutes after the session starts – e.g., if the session is from 1-3, please come at 1:50 p.m.)

These training sessions will demonstrate how to navigate the new system, how to add research personnel to studies, how to submit new applications and post-approval applications (e.g., Amendments, Continuing Ethics Reviews, End of Studies, FYI, DSMC, Reportable Events), and provide an overview of routine ethics processes. These sessions will NOT specifically address completing an application in terms of content.

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Sex- and Gender-Based Analysis (SGBA) Awareness Week: May 29-June 2

What is SGBA?

Sex- and Gender-Based Analysis (SGBA) is an approach that systematically examines sex-based (biological) and gender-based (socio-cultural) differences between men, women, boys, girls and gender-diverse people. The purpose of SGBA is to promote rigorous science that is sensitive to sex and gender and therefore has the potential to expand our understanding of health determinants for all people.

Why do SGBA?

  • It’s more rigorous.
    The more we understand how sex and gender affect health, the more we can improve health and wellbeing for everyone.
  •  It’s more ethical.
    When research fails to account for sex and gender, the evidence generated may be incomplete or incorrect, resulting in costly knowledge gaps. We risk not only doing harm by assuming that our study results apply to everyone, but also missing critical opportunities to improve health.
  • It’s a government requirement.
    As indicated in the Grants and Awards Guide, CIHR expects that all research applicants will integrate gender and sex into their research designs when appropriate.

Join the conversation

CIHR’s Institute of Gender and Health aims to support all researchers in integrating SGBA into their research. Here’s how you can join:

  •  Tweet using the hashtag #SGBA to tell your tips and tricks for improving the integration of sex and gender in your health discipline.
  • Share IGH’s interactive online training modules with colleagues to support them in integrating sex and gender in their research.

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Statistics Canada – Research Data Centre at Western

The Statistics Canada Research Data Centre (RDC) at Western University provides access to detailed data for research, promotes the use of data through associated training, and assists in the dissemination of research results.

There are many datasets available through the RDC. Researchers interested in accessing these datasets are encouraged to submit proposals. Available datasets can be viewed at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/rdc/data.

For example, the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) – 2015 Annual Component can now be accessed at the RDC by researchers with approved projects. The CCHS is a cross-sectional survey that collects data on health status, health care utilization and health determinants for the population 12 years of age and over living in Canada. The 2015 CCHS features a redesigned collection strategy and major content revisions. As such, researchers should take caution when comparing data from the 2015 component to previous cycles.

The Research Data Centre is open Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm in the Social Science Centre, Room 1030.

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Scholarship@Western & Copyright Permissions – Tutorial

Before you upload your material to the Scholarship@Western Institutional Repository it is important to identify publisher copyright permissions and self-archiving policies. Some publishers permit authors to archive the final ‘version of record,’ while others permit only pre-prints or post-prints. On rare occasions, publishers do not permit self-archiving of any version of the work. In the past, identifying author permissions was a laborious process; today, it only takes a few minutes.

This tutorial, created by Cal Murgu, Western MLIS student, walks you through the entire process, from identifying permissions to uploading your article or chapter to Western’s Institutional Repository. The entire process will only take a few minutes of your time.

If you have any questions or need assistance with uploading to Scholarship@Western please contact your subject librarian or email scholarship@uwo.ca. FIMS researchers may contact Cal Murgu.

More information about your rights as an author

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v80Xf9FJDc&w=560&h=315]

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