Contribute to ER Curriculum

Undergraduate and Graduate research training program and course professionals are invited to develop and submit activities for inclusion in the Entering Research curriculum. 

Entering Research Curriculum Inclusion Criteria

To be included in the Entering Research curriculum, activities must:

1. Make a unique contribution by introducing new content or by extending upon existing activities. If authors are unsure whether their activity meets this criterium, they should contact the Entering Research authors to discuss their activity idea before developing a submission.

2. Include all components of an Entering Research activity as outlined in the ER Activity Submission Form. 

3. Be favorably reviewed using the ER Activity Rubric by members of the Entering Research community, with all activity sections meeting the “acceptable” criteria outlined in the rubric.

4. Receive a minimum average effectiveness rating of 3.5 (on a scale ranging from 1 to 5) across all trainee and facilitator pilot testing implementation evaluations.

Activity Review & Pilot Testing Process:

1. Activity Preparation. Use the Entering Research Activity Template to develop new activities and submit them via the ER Activity Submission Form. Authors should use the ER Activity Feedback Rubric during development to ensure that all necessary components are included. Activities should be submitted by January 1 (for Fall Pilot testing) or October 1 (for Summer Pilot testing).  Please review the Entering Research conceptual framework and identify which areas of trainee development and meta learning objectives are addressed by your proposed activity and include that information on the template.  If your activity addresses other areas of trainee development and/or meta learning objectives not currently addressed in the ER framework, you are welcome to list those as well. 

2. Initial Review. Within one month of submission, an Entering Research team member will review the activity to make sure it is complete. If the activity is complete, it will be sent for external peer review. If the activity is not complete, the author will be contacted to make revisions before it is sent for external review. 

3. External Peer Review.  Within two months off submission, at least two members of the Entering Research community will review each activity using the ER Activity Feedback Rubric. Feedback will be returned to the author and a revised activity should be resubmitted within one month with the modifications highlighted (e.g., using track changes). 

4. ER Author Review. The Entering Research authors will review all activities prior to release for pilot testing. If the external reviewer feedback has been sufficiently addressed and no further revisions are needed, the activity will be released for pilot testing.  

5. Pilot Testing. Activities ready for pilot testing will be released to the ER community. To collect evidence of effectiveness, all Entering Research activities must be pilot tested in at least two separate implementations in two different programs or courses with trainees at the appropriate career stage(s). Authors are encouraged to suggest possible pilot testing sites (other than their own institution) that would be appropriate venues in which to pilot test their activity. The Entering Research team will leverage the Entering Research community to recruit appropriate pilot testing sites and collect evaluation data from research trainees and facilitators at each site. An activity must receive a minimum effectiveness rating of 3.5 (on a scale ranging from 1 to 5) across all pilot testing implementations to be published as part of the curriculum.  Activities for which there is a lack of evidence of effectiveness collected (e.g., not enough sites adopt the activity to pilot test it) or for which the evaluation data indicate that significant revision is needed will remain in the pilot testing pool of activities until the criteria for inclusion and publication in the curriculum are met. 

6. Publication of Activities. When the evaluation data show the activity is effective with facilitators and research trainees, it will be added to the portfolio of Entering Research activities published on the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research website (cimerproject.org). All published activities include the author’s name in the footer and may be cited as an evidence-based, peer reviewed curricular publication.