Introduction
An attractively prepared research
proposal is crucial for achieving
sufficient resources to conduct a
successful project or study. Funding
agencies that sponsor research use a
proposal as the basis for making
their funding decisions. Some
agencies request a two-step proposal;
the first is a brief plan of the project,
and, when accepted, a more detailed
proposal has to be submitted.
Funding agencies often supply an
application kit that includes the
forms to be completed and a specific
format for organising the content of
the proposal.1 The ethics committee
requires a research plan to be able to
judge whether the intended project
is ethically acceptable.
There is considerable similarity
in the type of information that is
expected in research proposals,
and in this article we will describe
several of these important aspects
of writing a research proposal.