An e-resource to coordinate research activity with the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS)

Research into interprofessional education is often performed by professionals in practice alongside their other "core" duties, thus additional help and support to achieve quality research outcomes would be beneficial. This study aimed to create a virtual community of researchers with shared interest in quantitative studies of interprofessional learning using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale. An e-resource was built which provided access to relevant resources, helped to coordinate research effort, and promoted communication. Use of the resource was monitored over a 14-month period and evaluated at the end of this time. Forty-eight researchers across six different countries were assigned usernames and passwords. According to a self-report measure, 23/27 (85%) respondents to the evaluation questionnaire had accessed the resource and 95% planned to use it in the coming year. This paper shares our experiences and observations from the study.