this section of a research paper describes the importance of the study to its stakeholders

Significance of the Study

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The significance of the study underscores the research’s importance, illustrating its impact on existing knowledge and potential applications. It highlights how the findings address gaps, resolve problems, or contribute to advancements in a specific field. By emphasizing the study’s relevance, it demonstrates the broader implications for society, academia, or industry, justifying the research effort and investment.

What is the Significance of the Study?

The significance of the study illustrates the research’s importance, highlighting its impact on existing knowledge and potential applications. It addresses gaps, resolves problems, or contributes to advancements in a specific field. Emphasizing the study’s relevance, it demonstrates broader implications for society, academia, or industry, justifying the research effort and investment.

Significance of the Study Format

When writing the “Significance of the Study” section in a research paper , follow this format to ensure clarity and impact:

1. Introduction

• Contextual Background: Provide a brief background of the research topic.
• Research Problem: State the problem the study addresses.

2. Purpose of the Study

• Objective Statement: Clearly define the main objective of the study.
• Scope of the Study: Outline what the study covers.

3. Importance to the Field

• Contribution to Knowledge: Explain how the study will add to existing knowledge.
• Theoretical Significance: Discuss the study’s theoretical implications.

4. Practical Implications

• Real-world Application: Describe how the findings can be applied in practical setting .
• Beneficiaries: Identify who will benefit from the research (e.g., policymakers, practitioners, educators).

5. Advancement of Future Research

• Foundation for Future Studies: Indicate how the study can serve as a basis for further research.
• Research Gaps: Highlight any gaps the study aims to fill.

6. Societal Impact

• Broader Implications: Discuss the potential societal benefits or changes resulting from the study.
• Public Awareness: Explain how the study can raise awareness or understanding of the issue.

7. Conclusion

• Summary of Significance: Recap the main points that underline the importance of the study.
• Call to Action: Encourage specific actions or further studies based on the research findings.

Significance of the Study on Impact of Remote Work on Employee Productivity in the Tech Industry 1. Introduction The rapid shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the dynamics of workplace productivity, especially within the tech industry. This study aims to examine how remote work influences employee productivity compared to traditional office settings. 2. Purpose of the Study The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the productivity levels of tech employees working remotely versus those working in office environments. The study analyzes various productivity metrics, such as task completion rates, quality of work, and employee satisfaction. 3. Importance to the Field This research contributes significantly to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical data on the productivity impacts of remote work. It refines theoretical models of workplace productivity and offers new insights into remote work dynamics specific to the tech sector. Understanding these dynamics helps scholars and practitioners alike in shaping effective productivity strategies in the evolving work landscape. 4. Practical Implications The findings from this study have crucial practical implications for tech companies aiming to optimize their remote work policies. By understanding how remote work affects productivity, managers and HR departments can develop strategies to enhance employee performance and well-being in remote settings. These insights can also assist in designing training programs that equip employees with the skills needed for effective remote work. 5. Advancement of Future Research This study sets the stage for future research on long-term remote work trends and their impacts across various industries. It addresses existing gaps by providing a detailed analysis of how remote work influences productivity in the tech sector. Future researchers can build on this work to explore remote work dynamics in other fields and under different conditions. 6. Societal Impact The study highlights the broader societal implications of remote work, such as promoting work-life balance, reducing urban congestion, and lowering environmental pollution. By demonstrating the potential benefits of remote work, this research can influence public policy and corporate strategies towards more sustainable and flexible working conditions, ultimately contributing to societal well-being. 7. Conclusion Understanding the impact of remote work on productivity is essential for developing effective work policies and creating healthier work environments. This study provides valuable insights that can guide tech companies in optimizing their remote work strategies. Future research should explore the long-term effects of remote work across different sectors to provide a comprehensive understanding of its benefits and challenges.

Significance of the Study Examples

• Significance of the Study: Research Paper
• Significance of the Study: Qunatitive Research
• Significance of the Study: Qualitative Research

Research Paper

Qunatitive Research

Qualitative Research

More Significance of the Study Examples

• Educational Resources and Student Performance
• Business Innovation and Competitive Advantage
• Social Media Influencers and Brand Loyalty
• Mental Health Benefits of Physical Activ ity
• Sustainable Food Practices and Consumer Behavior
• Green Building and Energy Efficiency
• Technology in Healthcare
• Employee Engagement and Job Performance
• Business Strategies and Market Adaptation
• Mindfulness at Work

Purpose of Writing the Significance of a Study

When writing academic research or scholarly articles, one critical section is the significance of the study . This part addresses the importance and impact of the research, both theoretically and practically. Here are the main purposes of writing the significance of a study:

1. Establishing Relevance

The primary purpose is to explain why the study is relevant. It connects the research to existing literature, highlighting gaps or deficiencies that the current study aims to fill. This helps to justify the research problem and demonstrates the necessity of the study.

2. Highlighting Contributions

This section outlines the contributions the study will make to the field. It discusses how the findings can advance knowledge, theory, or practice. The significance emphasizes new insights, innovative approaches, or advancements that the study will provide.

3. Guiding Further Research

The significance of the study often includes suggestions for future research. By identifying limitations and unexplored areas, it encourages other researchers to pursue related questions. This helps to build a foundation for continuous inquiry and discovery.

4. Demonstrating Practical Applications

Beyond theoretical contributions, the significance of the study highlights practical applications. It shows how the research can solve real-world problems, improve practices, or influence policy-making. This connects academic research to practical outcomes that benefit society.

5. Engaging Stakeholders

Writing the significance of a study engages various stakeholders, including scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and funders. It communicates the value of the research to different audiences, making it easier to garner support, funding, or collaboration.

6. Enhancing Research Impact

A well-articulated significance section enhances the overall impact of the research. It underscores the importance and potential influence of the study, increasing its visibility and recognition in the academic community and beyond.

Benefits of Significance of the Study

Writing the significance of a study offers several benefits that enhance the research’s value and impact. Here are the key benefits:

1. Clarifies Research Value

The significance section clarifies the value of the research by explaining its importance and relevance. It helps readers understand why the study matters and what contributions it aims to make to the field.

2. Justifies the Research Problem

This section provides a rationale for the study by highlighting the research problem’s importance. It justifies the need for the study by identifying gaps in existing literature and explaining how the research will address these gaps.

3. Engages and Motivates Readers

A well-articulated significance section engages and motivates readers, including scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. It draws their interest by showcasing the study’s potential impact and benefits.

4. Secures Funding and Support

Explaining the significance of the study can help secure funding and support from stakeholders. Funding agencies and institutions are more likely to invest in research that demonstrates clear value and potential impact.

5. Guides Research Focus

The significance section helps guide the research focus by clearly defining the study’s contributions and goals. This clarity ensures that the research stays on track and aligns with its intended purpose.

6. Enhances Academic Credibility

Demonstrating the significance of a study enhances the researcher’s academic credibility. It shows a deep understanding of the field and the ability to identify and address important research questions.

7. Encourages Further Research

By identifying gaps and suggesting future research directions, the significance section encourages other researchers to build on the study’s findings. This fosters a continuous cycle of inquiry and discovery in the field.

8. Highlights Practical Applications

The significance section highlights practical applications of the research, showing how it can solve real-world problems. This makes the study more appealing to practitioners and policymakers who are interested in practical solutions.

9. Increases Research Impact

A clear and compelling significance section increases the overall impact of the research. It enhances the study’s visibility and recognition, leading to broader dissemination and application of the findings.

10. Supports Academic and Professional Goals

For researchers, writing a strong significance section supports academic and professional goals. It can contribute to career advancement, publication opportunities, and recognition within the academic community.

How to Write the Significance of the Study

Writing the significance of a study involves explaining the importance and impact of your research. This section should clearly articulate why your study matters, how it contributes to the field, and what practical applications it may have. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you write an effective significance of the study:

Start with the Context

Begin by providing a brief overview of the research context. This sets the stage for understanding the importance of your study. Example : “In today’s digital age, digital literacy has become a critical skill for students. As technology continues to integrate into education, understanding its impact on academic performance is essential.”

Identify the Research Gap

Explain the gap in existing literature or the problem your study aims to address. Highlighting this gap justifies the need for your research. Example: “Despite the growing importance of digital literacy, there is limited empirical evidence on its direct impact on high school students’ academic performance. This study seeks to fill this gap by investigating this relationship.”

Explain the Theoretical Contributions

Discuss how your study will contribute to existing theories or knowledge in the field. This shows the academic value of your research. Example : “The findings of this study will contribute to educational theory by providing new insights into how digital literacy skills influence student learning outcomes. It will expand the current understanding of the role of technology in education.”

Highlight Practical Implications

Describe the practical applications of your research. Explain how the findings can be used in real-world settings. Example : “Practically, the results of this study can inform educators and policymakers about the importance of incorporating digital literacy programs into the curriculum. It will help design more effective teaching strategies that enhance students’ digital competencies.”

Mention the Beneficiaries

Identify who will benefit from your study. This could include scholars, practitioners, policymakers, or specific groups affected by the research problem. Example: “This research will benefit educators, school administrators, and policymakers by providing evidence-based recommendations for integrating digital literacy into educational practices. Additionally, students will benefit from improved learning outcomes and better preparedness for the digital world.”

Suggest Future Research

Point out areas for future research that stem from your study. This shows the ongoing relevance and potential for further inquiry. Example : “Future research could explore the long-term effects of digital literacy on career readiness and job performance. Additionally, studies could examine the impact of specific digital literacy interventions on diverse student populations.”

Use Clear and Concise Language

Ensure your writing is clear and concise. Avoid jargon and overly complex sentences to make your significance easily understandable.

What is the significance of a study?

The significance explains the importance, contributions, and impact of the research, highlighting why the study is necessary and how it benefits the field and society.

Why is the significance of a study important?

It justifies the research, engages readers, secures funding, guides the research focus, and highlights practical and theoretical contributions, enhancing the study’s impact and visibility.

How do you identify the significance of a study?

Identify gaps in existing literature, potential contributions to theory and practice, and practical applications that address real-world problems, demonstrating the study’s relevance and importance.

What should be included in the significance of a study?

Include the research context, identified gaps, theoretical contributions, practical applications, beneficiaries, and suggestions for future research to comprehensively explain the study’s importance.

How long should the significance of a study be?

Typically, the significance section should be concise, around 1-2 paragraphs, providing enough detail to clearly convey the study’s importance and contributions.

Can the significance of a study influence funding decisions?

Yes, a well-articulated significance section can attract funding by demonstrating the study’s potential impact and relevance to funding agencies and stakeholders.

How does the significance of a study benefit researchers?

It clarifies the research focus, enhances credibility, guides the research process, and supports academic and professional goals by highlighting the study’s contributions and importance.

Should the significance of a study mention future research?

Yes, mentioning future research directions shows the ongoing relevance of the study and encourages further inquiry, contributing to continuous advancement in the field.

How does the significance of a study relate to the research problem?

The significance justifies the research problem by explaining its importance, highlighting gaps in existing knowledge, and showing how the study addresses these issues.

Can practical applications be part of the significance of a study?

Yes, practical applications are crucial, showing how the research can solve real-world problems, influence practices, and benefit specific groups or society overall.

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

10 Examples of Public speaking

20 Examples of Gas lighting

• Review article
• Open access
• Published: 29 October 2021

Involving stakeholders in research priority setting: a scoping review

• Christiane Grill   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1334-4657 1  

Research Involvement and Engagement volume  7 , Article number:  75 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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This scoping review provides a thorough analysis of how stakeholders have so far been involved in research priority setting. The review describes, synthesizes, and evaluates research priority setting projects not only for the field of health—as previous reviews have done—but does so on a much broader scale for any research area.

A comprehensive electronic literature search was conducted in the databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Reflecting the importance of grey literature, Google Scholar and relevant websites were also screened for eligible publications. A computational approach was then used for the study selection. The final screening for inclusion was done manually.

The scoping review encompasses 731 research priority setting projects published until the end of 2020. Overall, the projects were conducted within the realm of 50 subject areas ranging from agriculture and environment over health to social work and technology. Key learnings include that nearly all priority setting projects aimed to identify research priorities for the field of health (93%), particularly for nursing and care, cancer, pediatrics, and mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders. Only 6% of the projects were not health-related and 1% identified research priorities at the interface between health and a non-health area. Over time, 30 different stakeholder groups took part in research priority setting. The stakeholders most frequently asked to identify research priorities were doctors, patients, academics/researchers, nurses, allied healthcare professionals, family members, friends, and carers. Nearly two thirds of all projects have been conducted in Europe and North America. Overall, only 9% of the projects emphasized the importance of stakeholders in their goals and rationales and actively involved them. In around a quarter of the projects, stakeholders deliberated on their research priorities throughout the entire process.

By mapping out the complex landscape of stakeholder involvement in research priority setting, this review guides future efforts to involve stakeholders effectively, inclusively, and transparently, which in turn may increase the overall value of research for society. As a practical addition to this review, the first worldwide research priority setting database was created: https://ois.lbg.ac.at/en/project-database . The database contains all the projects analyzed for this review and is constantly updated with the latest published research priority setting projects.

Plain English summary

Involving stakeholders already at the beginning of the research process when deciding what to research is called “research priority setting”. Research priority setting brings research closer to the needs and concerns of its stakeholders, particularly patients, family members, friends, carers and ordinary citizens. There is a general need to map out the complex landscape of stakeholder involvement in research priority setting. I found 731 projects that asked stakeholders to identify priorities for research. The projects were conducted along 50 different subject areas ranging from agriculture and environment over health to social work and technology. Most projects identified research priorities for nursing and care, cancer, pediatrics, and mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders. The stakeholders most frequently asked to identify research priorities were doctors, patients, academics/researchers, nurses, allied healthcare professionals, family members, friends, and carers. Overall, half of all projects explicitly mentioned that involving stakeholders is important. Around one quarter of all projects also actively involved patients and the public. In around one quarter of all projects, stakeholders deliberated on their priorities for research throughout the entire process. As researchers are still skeptical towards the benefits of involving stakeholders in research priority setting, future research on this matter is greatly needed.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

Traditionally, researchers, research institutions or funding organizations decide on the questions that research should answer. The corporate world, however, has demonstrated very early on that involving stakeholders in defining research and development (R&D) activities can be very beneficial [ 3 ]. Many of the best ideas for new products and services (e.g., LEGO sets, Local Motors’ cars, or telecommunication applications for Orange) have originated from stakeholders having a say in setting the R&D agenda [ 4 , 5 ]. A gradual turn of tide can also be observed in science. Influential bodies, like the European Commission (EC) [ 6 ], the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) [ 7 ], and the World Health Organization (WHO) [ 8 ], or UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) [ 9 ] are strongly advising researchers to actively involve non-research stakeholders in setting the scientific research agenda. And indeed, increasing efforts are made to identify stakeholders’ research needs by involving them in “research priority setting”.

Research priority setting Footnote 1 encompasses any activities that involve stakeholders in identifying, prioritizing, and reaching consensus on those areas, topics, or questions that research needs to address [ 10 , 11 ]. Particularly in the first stage of the research process, when deciding what to research, input by non-research stakeholders can be very beneficial. It has been shown to promote the uptake and implementation of research evidence [ 12 ], secure optimal return on investment [ 13 ], reduce “research waste” [ 14 ], and foster the relevance and legitimacy of research overall [ 10 ].

To date, several scoping reviews on research priority setting exist. These reviews have all aimed at systematically compiling, analyzing, and evaluating research priority setting for the field of health. Some reviews have done so for specific health topics [ 12 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Others have looked at health research priority setting conducted in specific geographical areas [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], during specific time periods [ 25 , 26 , 27 ], or fulfilling a mix of parameters [ 28 , 29 ]. And lastly, other studies have reviewed specific design characteristics of health research priority setting [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].

What is yet missing, however, is a thorough analysis of how non-research stakeholders have so far been involved in research priority setting. This review, thus, sets out to describe, synthesize, and evaluate research priority setting projects not only for the field of health—as previous reviews have done—but does so on a much broader scale for any research field worldwide. The review questions touch three broad areas of interest: (1) the general characteristics of research priority setting projects with stakeholder involvement, (2) the importance of stakeholder involvement, and (3) the methods and approaches to involve stakeholders in research priority setting. The specific questions guiding the review are: (1) What are the general characteristics of those research priority setting projects that involved stakeholders to set the research agenda? More precisely: (1.1) For which subject areas are stakeholders involved in setting research priorities? (1.2) Which stakeholder groups are involved in research priority setting? (1.3) In which countries are stakeholders involved in research priority setting? (2) How much importance do the priority setting projects attribute to stakeholder involvement? (2.1) Is stakeholder involvement named as an explicit goal? (2.2) Is stakeholder involvement named as a reason for conducting research priority setting? (2.3) Are stakeholders included in governance structures (i.e., steering groups, advisory boards)? (2.4) On what level is the public involved in research priority setting? (3) How are stakeholders’ research priorities elicited? More precisely: (3.1) What methods are applied to elicit stakeholders’ research priorities? (3.2) What are the specific approaches to elicit stakeholders’ research priorities?

Mapping out the complex landscape of stakeholder involvement in research priority setting may ultimately guide future efforts to involve stakeholders effectively, inclusively, and transparently, which in turn may increase the overall value of research for society.

A study protocol was first developed to describe the rationale and planned course of action of the review [ 35 ].

Selection criteria

Studies that reported how non-research stakeholders were involved in setting priorities for research and published by the end of 2020 in English were included. Studies in which only researchers were involved in setting priorities for research were excluded. Furthermore, studies assessing priorities for practice and policy, non-research articles (e.g., policy documents, clinical guidelines, editorials, commentaries), and articles that did not include information about stakeholders and methods were excluded.

Search strategy

A comprehensive electronic literature search was conducted from June to July 2020. To minimize any possible biases, several sources were searched from their inception to June/July 2020. Additionally, the searches were updated in January 2021 to include all research priority setting projects published by the end of 2020.

Due to the many synonyms for priority setting, a broad search approach was applied. Thus, the following search strings were defined: “priority setting”, “research priorit*”, “priority research”, “research agenda setting”, “agenda setting + research”, “agenda setting + priorit*”, “research agenda + priorit*”, “resource allocation + priorit*”, “allocation of resources + priorit*”, and “rationing + priorit*”.

The literature databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for these search strings in title or abstract. The exact search strings for each database can be found in Additional file 1 . The hits with all available information (authors, title, abstract, publication year, publication outlet, the digital object identifier [DOI; i.e., the persistent identifier or handle used to identify objects]), publication type, keywords, download link) were saved in comma separated values (csv) files.

Reflecting the importance of grey literature, title searches were conducted in Google Scholar for the same search strings (see Additional file 1 ). Using the free software environment for statistical computing and graphics “ R ” and the freely available, web scraping R-package “rvest” [ 36 ] all hits (excluding patents and citations) with all available information (authors, title, abstract, publication year, download link) were saved in csv files. Since most of the grey literature begins to appear on Google Scholar after approximately 20 to 30 pages of results [ 37 ], it was decided to include all hits on all pages. However, regardless of the number of hits found, Google Scholar only allows to extract hits until page 99 totaling 990 hits as a maximum. Additionally, the websites of organizations that are internationally known for advising and conducting research priority setting were searched for publications. More precisely, any publications as well as final reports of priority setting partnerships published on the website of the James Lind Alliance [ 38 , 39 ], publications on the website of the Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group [ 40 ], and the website of the WHO priority setting methods [ 40 ] were downloaded automatically using “rvest”. All publications with all available information (authors, title, abstract, publication year, download link) were saved in csv files.

Study selection

A computational approach using R was used for all study selection steps except the last one—the final screening for inclusion. First, the csv files from all searches were merged into one long list of hits (i.e., studies). Second, duplicates identified based on the DOI, or the exact title were computationally removed. Also, it was checked whether the language of title and abstract were indeed English by using the freely available R-package “cld3: Google's Compact Language Detector 3” [ 41 ]. Any non-English hits were removed. Additionally, any non-research articles were deleted from the hit list. In other words, all sorts of reviews (e.g., literature reviews, meta-analyses, article reviews, book reviews), opinion letters and personal narratives, clinical trial reports, and guidelines were deleted from the hit list. Criterion was the specification of the publication type as indicated in the databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science.

These steps resulted in a longlist of hits that needed to be screened for eligibility. Some of these hits did not have an abstract. Since eligibility cannot be decided only based on the title, these hits were then manually screened for eligibility by looking them up. All hits that contained a title and an abstract were further screened for eligibility by calculating a structural topic model (STM).

The STM is a type of statistical modeling that aims to detect overarching, latent topics in documents Footnote 2 based on the words that occur in these documents via a bag-of-words approach [ 42 ]. The STM thereby assumes that each document contains a mixture over topics, and each topic contains a mixture over words. The STM calculates for each hit the probability that the hit pertains to a specific topic (i.e., topic probabilities) and for each word the probability that the word belongs to a specific topic (i.e., word probabilities). Overall, the STM found 52 overarching, latent topics. Additional file 2 reports the top 15 words that most probably belong to each of the 52 topics. Human interpretation is then needed to evaluate the results and draw conclusions. In a first step, two human coders reflected on the top 15 words that most probably belong to each topic. This human interpretation led to the finding that the top words for topic number 1 and topic number 5 best reflect the concept of research priority setting. Footnote 3 In a second step, ten randomly selected hits that most probably belong to each topic were extracted and two human coders evaluated the extent to which the extracted hits are studies on research priority setting. This human interpretation led to the conclusion that indeed topic number 1 and topic number 5 best reflect the concept of research priority setting. Subsequently, all hits that had a probability of more than 10% that they belonged to either of the two topics (hereby following the recommendation [ 42 ]) moved forward on the shortlist of studies to be checked manually for inclusion. Title and abstract of all eligible studies were checked manually whether they fulfilled the selection criteria. If so, the full texts were obtained and validated a final time against the selection criteria. Validity and reliability of the computational approach was tested thoroughly throughout the entire process.

Data extraction and synthesis

A data extraction form was developed specifically for this review and piloted on a small sample of randomly selected studies (n = 25). For all included studies, the following information was extracted into a csv file. As to the general characteristics of research priority setting projects with stakeholder involvement, the project’s subject area, involved countries, and the study’s publication year were extracted. To measure the importance that the projects attribute to stakeholder involvement, the project’s goal, the reasons for conducting research priority setting, details on the governance structure (i.e., steering groups, advisory boards), and information on the level of public involvement in these projects were extracted. As to the procedure to elicit stakeholders’ research priorities, the specific methods and approaches to do so were extracted. In a subsequent step, the extracted information was manually coded (i.e., classified along broader categories) (see Additional file 3 ), and in a last step due to the large amount of data quantitatively analyzed.

Search results

Altogether, the literature search identified 38,524 studies. After removing duplicates, checking for English as the publication language, and excluding any non-research articles, 17,682 studies (45.9%) remained. Manually screening the 1,080 studies with a title but not an abstract for eligibility resulted in 223 studies. Running the STM on the 16,602 studies with a title and an abstract resulted in 1,457 studies that had a topic probability of > 0.1 for either of the two topics. The title and abstracts of these studies were then manually screened and resulted in 770 eligible studies. Overall, 993 (2.6%) studies were eligible for inclusion. After a final round of screening the full texts of the studies, 711 studies were then included in the scoping review. An additional 20 studies were added in January 2021 due to a literature search update. Altogether, the scoping review now contains 731 priority setting projects in which stakeholders were involved in identifying priorities for research. The study selection process is depicted in the PRISMA flowchart (Fig.  1 ).

PRISMA Flowchart of Study Selection Process

General characteristics of research priority setting with stakeholder involvement

The scoping review encompasses 731 research priority setting projects that involved stakeholders and were published until the end of 2020 [see Additional file 4 ]. Figure  2 shows the frequency distribution of research priority setting projects over time. The first research priority setting that involved stakeholders was published in 1975 and is titled “Delphi Survey of Priorities in Clinical Nursing Research” by Carol A. Lindeman [ 43 ]. Until the mid 90’s, research priority setting projects were isolated occurrences. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the number of published projects has grown steadily with a particular large increase since 2007. The largest number of published research priority setting projects can be found for the years 2019 (n = 100) and 2020 (n = 89).

Frequency Distribution of Research Priority Setting Projects over Time

Subject areas

Overall, the research priority setting projects in which stakeholders were involved were conducted within the realm of 12 subject areas ranging from agriculture and environment over health to social work and technology. Due to the large number of projects within the field of health, this subject area was further divided into 38 areas along the international classification of diseases “ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics” provided by WHO [ 44 ] resulting in a list of 50 subject areas.

Overall, 77% of the projects related to one specific subject area, 22% of the projects to two different subject areas, and 10 projects (1%) even encompassed three subject areas. For instance, the research priority setting project “Educational Research Priorities for Pediatric Physical Therapy: A Consensus Study” by Moerchen et al. [ 45 ] was assigned to the areas: health education, pediatrics, and physical mobility and fitness; or, the project “Prioritizing Research for Integrated Implementation of Early Childhood Development and Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition Platforms” by Sharma et al. [ 46 ] was assigned to the areas: nutrition, pregnancy and childbirth, and pediatrics.

Nearly all priority setting projects aimed to identify research priorities for the field of health: Of the 731 projects, 93% (n = 683) were conducted exclusively for the subject area of health and only 6% (n = 40) were not health-related at all. 1% (n = 8) of the priority setting projects identified research priorities at the interface between health and a non-health area.

Of the 48 non-health subject areas, the most common areas (see Table 1 ) were environment (38%, n = 18), social work (13%, n = 6), and technology (10%, n = 5). Other non-health areas for which stakeholders were asked to identify research priorities were agriculture (8%, n = 4), communication (6%, n = 3), development (6%, n = 3), education (6%, n = 3), law (4%, n = 2), citizen science (2%, n = 1), construction (2%, n = 1), human resources (2%, n = 1), and logistics (2%, n = 1).

If non-research stakeholders were involved in setting health research priorities, they were most likely asked to do so for the area nursing and care (26%, n = 178; see Table 2 ). Other areas, for which stakeholders were frequently asked to set research priorities, were cancer (10%, n = 71), pediatrics (10%, n = 71), and mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders (10%, n = 65). Several projects focused on public health (6%, n = 41), pregnancy and childbirth (6%, n = 40), infectious and parasitic diseases (4%, n = 30), surgery (4%, n = 27), the nervous system (4%, n = 26), physical mobility and fitness (4%, n = 25), endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (4%, n = 23), and injuries (4%, n = 23). And a few projects identified research priorities for emergency medicine (3%, n = 19), health research (3%, n = 18), the circulatory system (2%, n = 17), nutrition (2%, n = 17), the genitourinary system (2%, n = 15), the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (2%, n = 15), aging (2%, n = 14), health and patient safety (2%, n = 14), the skin (2%, n = 13), health education (2%, n = 12), the health system (2%, n = 12), the respiratory system (2%, n = 11), the digestive system (1%, n = 10), general symptoms, signs and clinical findings (1%, n = 7), substance use and addictive behavior (1%, n = 7), sexual health (< 1%, n = 6), dentistry (< 1%, n = 5), organs and tissues (< 1%, n = 5), developmental anomalies (< 1%, n = 4), health communication (< 1%, n = 4), animal health (< 1%, n = 3), blood (< 1%, n = 3), complementary medicine (< 1%, n = 3), the ear (< 1%, n = 3), the visual system (< 1%, n = 3), and digital health (< 1%, n = 1).

Figure  3 shows a heatmap of the subject areas over time. Specifically, the figure depicts how many research priority setting projects on each subject area with stakeholder involvement were conducted for each year ranging from 1975 to 2020. As can be seen, research priority setting projects relating to nursing and care were nearly continuously conducted since 1975. With the rise of research priority setting projects overall over time, also the number of projects aiming to identify research priorities for nursing and care increased. Furthermore, priority setting projects on cancer were frequently conducted since 1999 with a particularly large increase of conducted projects in the years 2019 and 2020. Two areas that have been trending since 2007 and especially in the last five years are pediatrics, and mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders. The most recent, trending subject areas of the last few years for which stakeholders were involved in research priority setting were infectious and parasitic diseases, public health, and pregnancy and childbirth. Even though stakeholders have been involved in a wide variety of research priority setting projects, Fig.  3 also shows that stakeholder involvement in research priority setting is unevenly distributed. While for a few subject areas many priority setting projects with stakeholder involvement have been carried out, for many other areas stakeholders have thus far barely been involved in setting the research agenda.

Heatmap of Subject Areas over Time

Stakeholder groups

Overall, 30 different stakeholder groups became involved in 731 research priority setting projects. The stakeholders most frequently asked to identify research priorities were doctors (43% of all projects, n = 316; see Table 3 ), patients (43%, n = 315), academics/researchers (41%, n = 302), nurses (37%, n = 269), allied healthcare professionals (37%, n = 267), family members/friends/carers (27%, n = 200), policymakers (15%, n = 110), healthcare providers without further specification (9%, n = 66), non-governmental organizations (9%, n = 65), governmental agencies (7%, n = 54), funders (6%, n = 42), and educators (5%, n = 39). Stakeholders infrequently involved in research priority setting were citizens (2%, n = 14), industry (2%, n = 12), learners (1%, n = 10), spiritual service providers (1%, n = 9), environmental practitioners (1%, n = 8), social workers (1%, n = 7), communication practitioners (< 1%, n = 4), agriculturists (< 1%, n = 3), business professionals (< 1%, n = 3), defense service providers (< 1%, n = 3), technology practitioners (< 1%, n = 3), development practitioners (< 1%, n = 2), veterinarian healthcare providers (< 1%, n = 2), users/consumers (< 1%, n = 2), the construction sector (< 1%, n = 1), financial service providers (< 1%, n = 1), the labor union (< 1%, n = 1), and legal service providers (< 1%, n = 1).

The overall number of different stakeholder groups involved in one research priority setting project ranged from one to nine. 29% of the projects involved one stakeholder group, followed by 19% involving three different groups, 18% four groups, 15% two groups and 13% five groups. On average, 2.9 stakeholder groups per project aimed to identify research priorities.

Figure  4 presents a heatmap of the stakeholder groups involved in research priority setting projects over time. Since health was the major research area for which priority setting projects were conducted over time, it is not surprising that healthcare providers were particularly frequently present as stakeholders over time. Other subject area-specific professions were infrequently involved. The stakeholder group that was most strongly involved in research priority setting over time were nurses. Since 2005, doctors, patients, family members/friends/carers as well as academics/researchers have more and more become involved in these projects. Looking at the last five years, the most indispensable stakeholders, who were most frequently asked to identify research priorities, were doctors, patients, and allied healthcare professionals, followed by family members/friends/carers, nurses, policymakers, and academics/researchers.

Heatmap of Involved Stakeholder Groups over Time

Figure  5 visualizes the countries in which research priority setting projects with stakeholder involvement were conducted. Of the 731 projects identified nearly two thirds have been conducted in Europe (38%) and North America (26%). 11% of the projects were conducted in Australia, 7% in Asia, 5% in Africa and 1% in South America. 12% of the projects were conducted internationally without any further geographic specification. The top 10 countries in which most research priority setting projects were located are the UK (21%, n = 199), the USA (17%, n = 159), Australia (9%, n = 88), Canada (9%, n = 80), the Netherlands (2%, n = 23), Ireland (2%, n = 16), New Zealand (2%, n = 14), Germany (1%, n = 13), Sweden (1%, n = 13), and South Africa (1%, n = 10).

Countries of Research Priority Setting Projects. Note: The larger the blue circle, the more projects have been realized in that country. Projects that have been conducted internationally or in whole continents were excluded in this figure.

Frequency Distribution of Patient and Public Involvement over Time

The importance of stakeholder involvement

This section analyzes how much importance research priority setting projects attributed to stakeholder involvement.

Regarding the question whether stakeholder involvement is named as an explicit goal, the analysis shows that 56% (n = 408) of the projects explicitly stated as their goal the involvement of stakeholders. For instance, these projects aimed “ to identify and prioritize research questions with greatest value to emergency nurses and of highest importance for health care consumers ” [ 47 ], “ to engage caregivers, clinicians, researchers, and managers to identify priority topics for caregiver research in cancer care ” [ 48 ], or “ to bring together people who smoke or vape, people who do not smoke and healthcare professionals to identify and agree on priorities for electronic cigarette research in the UK ” [ 49 ]. On the other hand, an equally large number of projects (44%, n = 323) did not mention stakeholder involvement as an explicit goal. For instance, their goals were “ to establish priorities for research in critical care medicine in the UK ” [ 50 ], “ to develop a national, prioritized research agenda for advance care planning ” [ 51 ], or “ to identify important areas for future osteoporosis research ” [ 52 ].

Moreover, the question whether stakeholder involvement was named as a reason for conducting research priority setting was explored. Overall, the following reasons—individually or in combination with other reasons—were given: general need for research (e.g., because a field is under-researched [ 53 ], 48%, n = 353), no knowledge of stakeholders’ research priorities (e.g., questions of importance to patients and their families are yet unknown [ 54 ], 46%, n = 335), disease burden (e.g., arguing how many people are suffering from a specific disease [ 55 ], 10%, n = 71), impact (e.g., research on the defined priorities positively affects the lives of those concerned [ 56 ], 9%, n = 68), and more effective use of scarce resources (e.g., scare resources make it necessary to prioritize research foci [ 57 ], 9%, n = 65). As the analysis reveals, nearly half of all identified research priority setting projects named stakeholder involvement as an explicit reason for conducting research priority setting.

This section now answers the question whether stakeholders were included in the governance structures (i.e., steering groups, advisory boards) of research priority setting projects. Overall, if projects had steering groups or advisory boards, stakeholders were members of them; with one exception: the research priority setting project by Chamberlain et al. [ 58 ] invited only researchers to become members of the steering group. Overall, 23% (n = 168) of the projects involved stakeholders in their governance structure while more than three quarters (77%, n = 563) did not even have a governance structure at all (including the exception of Chamberlain et al.). Of the 168 projects with stakeholder involvement at the governance level, the vast majority (81%, n = 137) had a steering group, 14% (n = 13) an advisory board, and 5% (n = 8) both a steering group and an advisory board.

Level of public involvement

This section analyzes on what level the public was involved in research priority setting. In line with the definition of UK's public participation charity INVOLVE [ 59 ], the term “public” includes patients, potential patients, carers, people who use services, and people from organizations that represent people who use services. “Public involvement” in research is defined as research being carried out with or by member of the public rather to, about or for them. Involvement is hereby distinguished from participation and engagement. Involvement means active involvement in research projects; for instance, as grant holders, members of advisory and steering groups, co-developing materials, carrying out research. In contrast, participation means that the public takes part in research studies; for instance, they complete questionnaires or participate in interviews and focus groups. Engagement means that information and knowledge about research is provided and disseminated to the public; for instance via science festivals or through the media. The analysis revealed that in 52% (n = 384) of the identified projects the public neither participated nor was actively involved in research priority setting. In 30% (n = 216) of the projects, patients, family members/friends/carers or citizens participated in research priority setting: they took part in surveys, interviews, focus groups and so forth. In 17% (n = 126) of the projects, the public not only took part in the research studies but was also actively involved in the project as members of advisory boards or steering groups, or by co-developing materials and so forth. In 1% (n = 5) of the projects, the public was actively involved—more precisely, they were members of advisory boards and steering groups—but did not take part in the research studies as participants.

Looking at the development of public participation and involvement in research priority setting over time, the analysis provides a more granular picture. It was not until 1993 that the public took part in research priority setting for the first time. Specifically, the project “Explorations in Consultation of the Public and Health Professionals on Priority Setting in an Inner London Health District” by Bowling et al. [ 60 ] asked members of a local community to fill in a survey. Two years later, in 1995, the public was for the first time actively involved in research priority setting. In the project “Setting priorities for research and development in the NHS: a case study on the interface between primary and secondary care” by Jones et al. [ 61 ] consumers of health services were members of the advisory group. As Fig.  6 shows, the public was not actively involved again in research priority setting until 2010. Since 2010, however, active involvement of the public has constantly been growing. Particularly in the last three years (2018–2020), around one third of all annually published research priority setting projects actively involved the public.

Overall stakeholder importance

Lastly, the analysis looks at the overall importance that research priority setting projects attribute to stakeholder involvement. One quarter (26%, n = 192) of all projects did not attribute importance to stakeholder involvement at all. These projects did not name stakeholder involvement as an explicit goal or a reason for conducting the project and did not actively involved stakeholders in the research study. The rest of the projects attributed importance to stakeholder involvement in varying degrees. 9% (n = 67) of the identified projects explicitly mentioned stakeholder involvement as a goal and a reason for conducting the project, and actively involved stakeholders. Around one quarter of all projects (23%, n = 168) mentioned stakeholder involvement in their goals and rationales, 16% (n = 116) did so in their goals, and 12% (n = 85) in their reasons, but none of these projects actively involved stakeholders. In other words, stakeholders were mere participants of the research study. The remaining projects actively involved stakeholders—especially as members of steering groups and advisory boards—and sometimes additionally named stakeholder involvement as an explicit goal or reason for the project (governance: 4%, n = 31, goal and governance: 8%, n = 57, reason and governance: 2%, n = 15).

When looking at stakeholder importance over time, the analysis reveals that particularly during the last ten years stakeholders have become more and more important in setting research priorities. Continuously naming stakeholder involvement an explicit goal started in 2002 and since 2013 at least half of all research priority setting projects were doing so. Before that only scattered mentions of stakeholder involvement were made. The first research priority setting project that specifically set out to involve stakeholders (i.e., patients) was the study by Lewandowski et al. [ 62 ]. Justifying research priority setting by a lack of knowledge of stakeholders’ research priorities has increased in the last ten years. In the last three years, half of all projects named stakeholder involvement as a reason for conducting research priority setting. Actively involving stakeholders in priority setting was basically not existent until 2010. After that, projects slowly started to establish steering groups and advisory boards in which stakeholders became actively involved.

As to the importance of stakeholder involvement by subject area, the analysis shows that especially those areas that have been trending in the last few years (nursing and care, cancer, mental and behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders, pregnancy and childbirth, and public health) explicitly named stakeholder involvement as a goal and a reason and actively involved them via their governance structures.

Methods and approaches for stakeholder involvement

Lastly, this study addresses the question how stakeholders’ research priorities were elicited.

Methodological design

Overall, 16 different methods were applied in the 731 identified research priority setting projects. Those were the Delphi technique (27%, n = 258), surveys (21%, n = 206), the JLA methodology (13%, n = 125), workshops (11%, n = 103), focus groups (8%, n = 73), interviews (6%, n = 55), meetings (5%, n = 51), the CHNRI approach (4%, n = 38), group discussions (2%, n = 23), stakeholder consultations (1%, n = 14), webinars (> 1%, n = 6), horizon scans (> 1%, n = 3), the COHRED approach (> 1%, n = 2), the CAM approach (> 1%, n = 1), citizens’ jury (> 1%, n = 1), and the ENHR approach (> 1%, n = 1).

The top ten overall methodological designs were: the Delphi technique (30%, n = 221), the JLA methodology (17%, n = 125), surveys (12%, n = 90), the CHNRI approach (5%, n = 38), workshops (5%, n = 37), surveys and workshops (4%, n = 28), focus groups (2%, n = 16), meetings and surveys (2%, n = 16), focus groups and surveys (2%, n = 13), and focus groups and interviews, group discussions, or meetings (all three rank 10th with 2%, n = 11).

Overall, 42% (n = 331) of the projects used pure quantitative methods and 11% (n = 83) pure qualitative methods to elicit stakeholders’ priorities. Most projects (54%, n = 394) applied a mixed-methods, qualitative-quantitative design.

Around three quarters of all projects (77%, n = 561) applied a single method, followed by 17% (n = 125) two methods, 4% (n = 32) three methods, 2% (n = 12) four methods, and one of the most recent priority setting projects [ 63 ] even applied five different methods to elicit stakeholders’ research needs: the Delphi technique, interviews, meetings, surveys, and a workshop. The analysis over time shows that applying a multi-method design to elicit stakeholders’ research priorities has become more and more common in the last ten years. An increasing number of projects has been applying two and in the last five years even three to four different methods.

When it comes to the approaches to elicit stakeholders’ research priorities, three different approaches are distinguished: the identification approach (how possible research priorities are identified in the first place), the prioritization approach (how all possible research priorities are prioritized), and the consensus finding approach (how the priorities are agreed on).

In 86% (n = 627) of the identified projects, stakeholders were able to nominate their research needs either as a stand-alone approach (70%, n = 511) or combined with a literature review (15%, n = 111), researchers’ nominating priorities (1%, n = 4) or all three approaches combined (n = 1). In the remaining projects, the identification of research priorities was either exclusively based on researcher nomination (6%, n = 47), a literature review (6%, n = 46), or both combined (2%, n = 11). In all these instances, stakeholders did not have a say in identifying possible research priorities.

As to prioritization approaches, stakeholders were most frequently asked to rate priorities on Likert scales (43%, n = 312) or to rank them according to their importance (38%, n = 279). A more deliberative approach was to ask stakeholders to discuss the prioritization of their research needs (20%, n = 147). Less frequently, voting (12%, n = 89) or scoring (5%, n = 40) were chosen as prioritization approaches.

To find consensus on the priorities that stakeholders can agree on, half of all projects opted for a deliberative approach and the other half for a mathematical approach. In 49% (n = 357) of the projects, agreement on the final set of research priorities was directly established via stakeholder deliberation. In 51% (n = 374), consensus on research needs was indirectly found via calculating mean/median/mode ratings, mean/median/mode rankings, standard deviations, percentages, summing up scores, or using specific mathematical formulas.

Overall deliberative quality

I also assessed how much stakeholders were given an opportunity to comment on, or deliberate over, the research areas, topics or questions offered to them for prioritization. 11% (n = 83) of the projects did not include any deliberative component in their approaches. In other words, in these projects stakeholders were not able to nominate their priorities during the identification phase and were not given the opportunity to discuss their priorities during the prioritization phase or consensus finding phase. Only in 16% (n = 115) of the projects, stakeholders were given opportunities to deliberate over the priorities throughout the entire process. Most commonly, the deliberative element of a research priority setting project was to ask stakeholders to nominate their priorities in the identification phase (44%, n = 318). Less frequently stakeholders could directly raise their voice and deliberate during the identification and consensus finding phase (23%, n = 171). In the remaining projects, stakeholders were given the chance to deliberate during individual stages of the process (prioritization: n = 4, consensus finding: n = 12, identification and prioritization: n = 22, prioritization and consensus: n = 6).

When looking at the deliberative quality of research priority setting over time, the analysis shows that letting stakeholders nominate their priorities has always been a crucial part of most projects. Since 2006, stakeholders were more and more frequently able to deliberate over their priorities throughout the entire process of priority setting.

Regarding the deliberative quality of research priority setting by subject area, no differences were found. Regardless of the subject area, stakeholders were always able to nominate their priorities in the first stage. As to the prioritization and consensus finding phase, the analysis shows that especially those subject areas that have been trending in the last few years (nursing and care, cancer, mental and behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders, pregnancy and childbirth, and public health) applied deliberative approaches.

This scoping review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of stakeholder involvement in research priority setting. It is the first that systematically describes, synthesizes, and evaluates stakeholder involvement in research priority setting. In doing so, it complements existing reviews that have so far have only been conducted for the field of health [ 12 , 15 , 16 , 20 ] by including any research priority setting projects on any research area worldwide. From a methodological point of view, this review also displays how a computational approach can fruitfully be utilized for literature reviews.

Main findings

A computational approach combined with a final manual screening for inclusion identified 731 research priority setting projects published until the end of 2020 that involved stakeholders to set the research agenda.

Until the mid 90’s, research priority setting projects with stakeholder involvement were isolated occurrences. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the number of projects continuously increased. This increase might most probably be a result of an underlying change in the research culture: Awareness of the potential value of research priority setting has risen, explicit values regarding stakeholder involvement have been developed, and more and more voices have been calling to actively involve the public in research. For instance, funders like the British National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) made stakeholder involvement an indispensable condition for funding research projects since 1996. Researchers applying for funding were specifically asked to include plans for involvement within their funding applications [ 64 ], and the INVOLVE Foundation was established in the UK to help achieve stakeholder engagement in health research [ 65 ]. Furthermore, the foundation of the James Lind Alliance (JLA) in 2003 in the UK as well as the foundation of the Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) in 2010 in the USA boosted collaborations between patients, carers, and health professionals to jointly identify priorities for research. Apparently, involving stakeholders in research priority setting can only be ensured if the corresponding funding and support organizations and structures are present.

As the analysis has shown, priority setting has been nearly exclusively conducted for health research. In doing so, priority setting has been assisting researchers and policymakers in effectively targeting research with the greatest potential public health benefit. Health research prioritization is therefore considered key to strengthen national health research systems and has become essential to maximize the impact of investments especially in resource-poor environments [ 11 ]. Other scientific disciplines have barely—if at all—used this approach to identify their major research needs. This is a rather surprising finding as in recent years influential bodies like the EC or the International Science Council (ISC) have advocated mission-oriented research that responds to the grand social, environmental, and economic challenges of our time [ 6 ] and one step forward in identifying these grand challenges is effective research priority setting [ 66 ].

More than one third of all research priority setting projects worldwide have either been conducted in the UK or the USA. This strong imbalance is also evident at the continental level. Nearly two thirds of all research priority setting projects have been conducted in Europe and North America while in Africa and Asia such projects have hardly ever been realized. It seems that research priority setting can easier be facilitated in high-income countries that have a long tradition in healthcare research and have the academic and structural resources to support healthcare research. In turn, setting research priorities for health issues that are particularly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries could become neglected. And indeed, when looking at the burden of disease [ 66 ] and the findings in this study, it seems that those diseases that cause great burden in Africa and Asia—like Malaria, HIV, nutritional deficiencies, diarrhea and common infectious diseases—are rarely chosen as topics for research priority setting.

As to the stakeholder groups that have so far been involved in research priority setting, the findings reveal that experts by profession (i.e., individuals who have expertise due to their formally learned knowledge in higher education or professional experience) have always been involved in research priority setting. Over time, experts by experience (i.e., individuals with direct lived experience) brought their knowledge and perspectives also into priority setting and in the last years, their involvement—especially those of patients and family members/friends/carers—has particularly increased. Two stakeholder groups that have so far been rarely involved in priority setting are funders and policymakers. Funders and policymakers are, however, pivotal in vouching for the credibility and legitimacy of whole priority setting process, for disseminating the priorities to the public, and for calling on researchers to respond to these priorities in the post-priority setting phase [ 1 ]. Therefore, any priority setting project would be well advised to involve these two groups as early as possible. Also, ordinary citizens (i.e., ordinary people in general without any particular interest or concern) have so far hardly been involved in research priority setting. Particularly for priority setting projects addressing general topics that affect the public (e.g., the health system, research ethics, data privacy) bringing people, who have no direct interests in the outcomes, to the table might be a worthwhile endeavor.

Regarding the importance of stakeholder involvement in research priority setting, the findings of this review are mixed. Only half of all projects explicitly mentioned to aim to involve stakeholders and justified the research study with a lack of knowledge about stakeholders’ research priorities. But if involving stakeholders is not explicitly highlighted within the objectives and rationales for research priority setting, stakeholder involvement can quickly become mere lip service. Furthermore, in half of all projects the public neither participated nor was actively involved in research priority setting. In only 17% of the identified projects, the public were indeed actively involved by being members of advisory boards or steering groups, co-developing materials and so forth. All in all, stakeholder involvement can then quickly become tokenistic (i.e., a false appearance of inclusiveness), which may result in devaluated stakeholder input [ 65 ] and disinterest on the part of stakeholders to become involved in research again. This in turn diminishes the chances of effective uptake and implementation of research evidence and, thus, the overall relevance and value of research.

Furthermore, the way that stakeholders’ research priorities were elicited can be seen critical considering the findings. From a deliberative democracy viewpoint, it is certainly beneficial to use those methods and approaches that have the greatest deliberative (i.e., discursive) potential due to the very positive and diverse effects that deliberation has. Deliberating research priorities helps to elicit more considered opinions on priorities [ 67 ], to refine priorities [ 68 ], and to ensure that all perspectives are considered [ 68 , 69 ]. Deliberative approaches in priority setting also foster the understanding for each other’s views [ 68 ], and ultimately facilitate broad acceptance of the consensual process and its outcomes [ 70 ]. However, the results of this review show that less active, uninformed, and undeliberated methods (like surveys) were frequently chosen to elicit stakeholders’ priorities. Furthermore, the approaches to identify, prioritize, and reach consensus left little room for deliberation. To increase the legitimacy of research priority setting, future projects would, thus, be well advised to take full advantage of the power of deliberation when choosing their methodological design.

Strengths and limitations of this study

This is the first scoping review that described, synthesized, and evaluated research priority setting with a particular focus on stakeholder involvement. By analyzing any research priority setting projects on any subject area worldwide, this review explores patterns and relations across a wide range of studies thereby creating a comprehensive and well-rounded overview of research priority setting. However, there are some noteworthy limitations.

The literature search was limited to include projects published in English. This naturally excludes any research priority setting projects published in other languages. This is important to consider especially because the number of studies from each country was counted and compared.

While a comprehensive electronic literature search was conducted, it still cannot be ruled out that some research priority setting projects that do not have some sort of published project documentation, may have been overlooked. To counteract this possible limitation, all relevant websites of organizations that themselves conduct research priority setting were screened.

Even though a broad search approach was intentionally chosen to cover the synonyms for priority setting, this procedure might have had some drawbacks. It increased the “noise” in the data (i.e., it increased the number of publications not relevant for this scoping review) which made it more difficult and time consuming to validate the computational approach. It also made the calculations of the STM computationally more demanding. Despite thorough reliability and validity check of the computational approach throughout the entire process, it cannot be ruled out that a project might have mistakenly been excluded from the analysis.

Additionally, this work very well showcases how a computational approach can be fruitfully utilized for literature reviews and thus nicely joins a few other recent applications of this approach [ 71 , 72 , 73 ].

Practical implications

As a practical addition to this review, the Open Innovation in Science Center at the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft created the first worldwide research priority setting database [ 2 ]: https://ois.lbg.ac.at/en/project-database . In doing so, we have fulfilled a frequently expressed wish for an infrastructure to look up and disseminate research priority setting projects [ 16 , 74 ]. The database contains all the projects analyzed for this scoping review and is also constantly updated with the latest published research priority setting projects. The database provides insights into the general characteristics, stakeholder involvement and methodological designs. The database serves as a reference guide for researchers and any interested persons to look up what research priority setting projects already exist to prevent “research waste” by unnecessarily duplicating prioritization efforts. Moreover, the database is also a source of inspiration for future priority setting projects. The information provided by the database may help researchers to design future research priority setting projects. Additionally, the listed projects may motivate researchers to conduct research on the identified priorities themselves.

Involving stakeholders at the beginning of the research process, when deciding what to research, can undoubtedly be a very beneficial endeavor. Such involvement not only leads to more direct applicability of research results to stakeholders and better practical uptake, but it also fosters the democratization of research and improves the relevance and legitimacy of research overall.

By mapping out the complex landscape of stakeholder involvement in research priority setting projects, this review guides future efforts to involve stakeholders effectively, inclusively, and transparently, which in turn may increase the overall value of research for society.

However, considering researchers’ still existent skepticism towards the benefits of involving stakeholders in research priority setting [ 1 ], future research on this matter is greatly needed. Thus far, there exists anecdotal evidence. Isolated projects have proven that researchers may indeed overlook questions of relevance to stakeholders, and that answering these questions not only satisfies stakeholders’ needs, but also results in more effective research translation [ 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]. A systematic analysis of the extent to which research priority setting generates scientific but most importantly societal impact is yet missing.

Availability of data and materials

The dataset analyzed is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The analyzed studies are listed in Additional file 4 and are available online: https://ois.lbg.ac.at/en/project-database .

The terms “agenda setting”, “resource allocation” and “rationing” are sometimes synonymously used with priority setting.

In the case of this scoping review, the merged title and abstract of each hit represents one document.

The 15 top words for topic number 1 were research, nurse, priority, survey, identify, topic, study, delphi, round, area, rank, practice, result, high, respondent. The 15 top words for topic number 5 were priority, question, group, research, stakeholder, identify, participant, set, method, process, result, prioritize, people, top, engagement.

Abbreviations

European Commission

International Science Council

James Lind Alliance

Medical Research Council

National Health and Medical Research Council

National Institute of Health Research

Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute

Research and development

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Benjamin Missbach—a former colleague of the Open Innovation in Science Center at LBG—for his ideas and thoughts on conducting this review as well as for his assistance in interpreting the results of the STM, in developing the data extraction form, and in piloting the data extraction form. Furthermore, the author would like to thank the advisory group members Max Fochler (University of Vienna), Kjell Arne Johannsson (Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting), Rosa Klotz (Heidelberg University Hospital), Mona Nasser (University of Plymouth, Cochrane Methods Priority Setting), Gerlinde Rohrauer (Gesundheit Österreich GmbH) and Janice Tufte (PCORI) of the priority setting program at the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft for their ideas, comments and feedback while preparing the manuscript.

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. List of Included Studies.

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• Priority setting
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Research Involvement and Engagement

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• 4. The Introduction
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The introduction leads the reader from a general subject area to a particular topic of inquiry. It establishes the scope, context, and significance of the research being conducted by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating the purpose of the work in the form of the research problem supported by a hypothesis or a set of questions, explaining briefly the methodological approach used to examine the research problem, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and outlining the remaining structure and organization of the paper.

Key Elements of the Research Proposal. Prepared under the direction of the Superintendent and by the 2010 Curriculum Design and Writing Team. Baltimore County Public Schools.

Importance of a Good Introduction

Think of the introduction as a mental road map that must answer for the reader these four questions:

• What was I studying?
• Why was this topic important to investigate?
• What did we know about this topic before I did this study?
• How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding?

According to Reyes, there are three overarching goals of a good introduction: 1) ensure that you summarize prior studies about the topic in a manner that lays a foundation for understanding the research problem; 2) explain how your study specifically addresses gaps in the literature, insufficient consideration of the topic, or other deficiency in the literature; and, 3) note the broader theoretical, empirical, and/or policy contributions and implications of your research.

A well-written introduction is important because, quite simply, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. The opening paragraphs of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions about the logic of your argument, your writing style, the overall quality of your research, and, ultimately, the validity of your findings and conclusions. A vague, disorganized, or error-filled introduction will create a negative impression, whereas, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will lead your readers to think highly of your analytical skills, your writing style, and your research approach. All introductions should conclude with a brief paragraph that describes the organization of the rest of the paper.

Hirano, Eliana. “Research Article Introductions in English for Specific Purposes: A Comparison between Brazilian, Portuguese, and English.” English for Specific Purposes 28 (October 2009): 240-250; Samraj, B. “Introductions in Research Articles: Variations Across Disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2002): 1–17; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide. Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70; Reyes, Victoria. Demystifying the Journal Article. Inside Higher Education.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Structure and Approach

The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that answers three important questions for the reader:

• What is this?
• Why should I read it?
• What do you want me to think about / consider doing / react to?

Think of the structure of the introduction as an inverted triangle of information that lays a foundation for understanding the research problem. Organize the information so as to present the more general aspects of the topic early in the introduction, then narrow your analysis to more specific topical information that provides context, finally arriving at your research problem and the rationale for studying it [often written as a series of key questions to be addressed or framed as a hypothesis or set of assumptions to be tested] and, whenever possible, a description of the potential outcomes your study can reveal.

These are general phases associated with writing an introduction: 1.  Establish an area to research by:

• Highlighting the importance of the topic, and/or
• Making general statements about the topic, and/or
• Presenting an overview on current research on the subject.

2.  Identify a research niche by:

• Opposing an existing assumption, and/or
• Revealing a gap in existing research, and/or
• Formulating a research question or problem, and/or
• Continuing a disciplinary tradition.

3.  Place your research within the research niche by:

• Stating the intent of your study,
• Outlining the key characteristics of your study,
• Describing important results, and
• Giving a brief overview of the structure of the paper.

NOTE:   It is often useful to review the introduction late in the writing process. This is appropriate because outcomes are unknown until you've completed the study. After you complete writing the body of the paper, go back and review introductory descriptions of the structure of the paper, the method of data gathering, the reporting and analysis of results, and the conclusion. Reviewing and, if necessary, rewriting the introduction ensures that it correctly matches the overall structure of your final paper.

II.  Delimitations of the Study

Delimitations refer to those characteristics that limit the scope and define the conceptual boundaries of your research . This is determined by the conscious exclusionary and inclusionary decisions you make about how to investigate the research problem. In other words, not only should you tell the reader what it is you are studying and why, but you must also acknowledge why you rejected alternative approaches that could have been used to examine the topic.

Obviously, the first limiting step was the choice of research problem itself. However, implicit are other, related problems that could have been chosen but were rejected. These should be noted in the conclusion of your introduction. For example, a delimitating statement could read, "Although many factors can be understood to impact the likelihood young people will vote, this study will focus on socioeconomic factors related to the need to work full-time while in school." The point is not to document every possible delimiting factor, but to highlight why previously researched issues related to the topic were not addressed.

Examples of delimitating choices would be:

• The key aims and objectives of your study,
• The research questions that you address,
• The variables of interest [i.e., the various factors and features of the phenomenon being studied],
• The method(s) of investigation,
• The time period your study covers, and
• Any relevant alternative theoretical frameworks that could have been adopted.

Review each of these decisions. Not only do you clearly establish what you intend to accomplish in your research, but you should also include a declaration of what the study does not intend to cover. In the latter case, your exclusionary decisions should be based upon criteria understood as, "not interesting"; "not directly relevant"; “too problematic because..."; "not feasible," and the like. Make this reasoning explicit!

NOTE:   Delimitations refer to the initial choices made about the broader, overall design of your study and should not be confused with documenting the limitations of your study discovered after the research has been completed.

ANOTHER NOTE: Do not view delimitating statements as admitting to an inherent failing or shortcoming in your research. They are an accepted element of academic writing intended to keep the reader focused on the research problem by explicitly defining the conceptual boundaries and scope of your study. It addresses any critical questions in the reader's mind of, "Why the hell didn't the author examine this?"

III.  The Narrative Flow

Issues to keep in mind that will help the narrative flow in your introduction :

• Your introduction should clearly identify the subject area of interest . A simple strategy to follow is to use key words from your title in the first few sentences of the introduction. This will help focus the introduction on the topic at the appropriate level and ensures that you get to the subject matter quickly without losing focus, or discussing information that is too general.
• Establish context by providing a brief and balanced review of the pertinent published literature that is available on the subject. The key is to summarize for the reader what is known about the specific research problem before you did your analysis. This part of your introduction should not represent a comprehensive literature review--that comes next. It consists of a general review of the important, foundational research literature [with citations] that establishes a foundation for understanding key elements of the research problem. See the drop-down menu under this tab for " Background Information " regarding types of contexts.
• Clearly state the hypothesis that you investigated . When you are first learning to write in this format it is okay, and actually preferable, to use a past statement like, "The purpose of this study was to...." or "We investigated three possible mechanisms to explain the...."
• Why did you choose this kind of research study or design? Provide a clear statement of the rationale for your approach to the problem studied. This will usually follow your statement of purpose in the last paragraph of the introduction.

IV.  Engaging the Reader

A research problem in the social sciences can come across as dry and uninteresting to anyone unfamiliar with the topic . Therefore, one of the goals of your introduction is to make readers want to read your paper. Here are several strategies you can use to grab the reader's attention:

• Open with a compelling story . Almost all research problems in the social sciences, no matter how obscure or esoteric , are really about the lives of people. Telling a story that humanizes an issue can help illuminate the significance of the problem and help the reader empathize with those affected by the condition being studied.
• Include a strong quotation or a vivid, perhaps unexpected, anecdote . During your review of the literature, make note of any quotes or anecdotes that grab your attention because they can used in your introduction to highlight the research problem in a captivating way.
• Pose a provocative or thought-provoking question . Your research problem should be framed by a set of questions to be addressed or hypotheses to be tested. However, a provocative question can be presented in the beginning of your introduction that challenges an existing assumption or compels the reader to consider an alternative viewpoint that helps establish the significance of your study. 
• Describe a puzzling scenario or incongruity . This involves highlighting an interesting quandary concerning the research problem or describing contradictory findings from prior studies about a topic. Posing what is essentially an unresolved intellectual riddle about the problem can engage the reader's interest in the study.
• Cite a stirring example or case study that illustrates why the research problem is important . Draw upon the findings of others to demonstrate the significance of the problem and to describe how your study builds upon or offers alternatives ways of investigating this prior research.

NOTE:   It is important that you choose only one of the suggested strategies for engaging your readers. This avoids giving an impression that your paper is more flash than substance and does not distract from the substance of your study.

Freedman, Leora  and Jerry Plotnick. Introductions and Conclusions. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Introduction. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Introductions. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide . Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70; Resources for Writers: Introduction Strategies. Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sharpling, Gerald. Writing an Introduction. Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick; Samraj, B. “Introductions in Research Articles: Variations Across Disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2002): 1–17; Swales, John and Christine B. Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Skills and Tasks . 2nd edition. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2004 ; Writing Your Introduction. Department of English Writing Guide. George Mason University.

Writing Tip

Avoid the "Dictionary" Introduction

Giving the dictionary definition of words related to the research problem may appear appropriate because it is important to define specific terminology that readers may be unfamiliar with. However, anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and a general dictionary is not a particularly authoritative source because it doesn't take into account the context of your topic and doesn't offer particularly detailed information. Also, placed in the context of a particular discipline, a term or concept may have a different meaning than what is found in a general dictionary. If you feel that you must seek out an authoritative definition, use a subject specific dictionary or encyclopedia [e.g., if you are a sociology student, search for dictionaries of sociology]. A good database for obtaining definitive definitions of concepts or terms is Credo Reference .

Saba, Robert. The College Research Paper. Florida International University; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.

Another Writing Tip

When Do I Begin?

A common question asked at the start of any paper is, "Where should I begin?" An equally important question to ask yourself is, "When do I begin?" Research problems in the social sciences rarely rest in isolation from history. Therefore, it is important to lay a foundation for understanding the historical context underpinning the research problem. However, this information should be brief and succinct and begin at a point in time that illustrates the study's overall importance. For example, a study that investigates coffee cultivation and export in West Africa as a key stimulus for local economic growth needs to describe the beginning of exporting coffee in the region and establishing why economic growth is important. You do not need to give a long historical explanation about coffee exports in Africa. If a research problem requires a substantial exploration of the historical context, do this in the literature review section. In your introduction, make note of this as part of the "roadmap" [see below] that you use to describe the organization of your paper.

Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide . Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70.

Yet Another Writing Tip

Always End with a Roadmap

The final paragraph or sentences of your introduction should forecast your main arguments and conclusions and provide a brief description of the rest of the paper [the "roadmap"] that let's the reader know where you are going and what to expect. A roadmap is important because it helps the reader place the research problem within the context of their own perspectives about the topic. In addition, concluding your introduction with an explicit roadmap tells the reader that you have a clear understanding of the structural purpose of your paper. In this way, the roadmap acts as a type of promise to yourself and to your readers that you will follow a consistent and coherent approach to addressing the topic of inquiry. Refer to it often to help keep your writing focused and organized.

Cassuto, Leonard. “On the Dissertation: How to Write the Introduction.” The Chronicle of Higher Education , May 28, 2018; Radich, Michael. A Student's Guide to Writing in East Asian Studies . (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Writing n. d.), pp. 35-37.

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