Rehabilitation research: habit analysis and recommendations.

ABSTRACT

Respondents to a survey by the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) on the research grant application behavior of its members indicated that 41% (45) made no applications during the 6-year period ending December 1980. Of the remainder, 12% (13) were aggressive achievers (eg, earned 54% of the awards), 33% were mild achievers and 14% were unsuccessful applicants. The successful applicants submitted 1 1/2 times more applications than did the unsuccessful ones. Of the awards made, 42% were federally funded. Of articles published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation by physicians in the years 1978-1980, 76% were federally funded. Study of these data suggest that upgrading of knowledge and skills in the grant application process plus an exposure to new funding sources could increase rehabilitation research productivity. This paper discusses factors influencing success, research initiation and methods of accessing funds available from corporations and foundations.