Preparing research proposals for contract research

The author participated in the research-commissioning exercise held in 1995 by the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery & Health Visiting, to award research contracts. She was involved in providing research review feedback to proposing teams who did not reach the shortlist. The feedback comments were derived from individual reviewers' commentary sheets and formed the basis of correspondence to each team at the end of the year. This paper aims to communicate the review comments concerning the structure and content of proposals to a wider audience, many of whom have asked for this information.