FR/EN : Relance du concours - Banque de cas PolÉthicas / Case Studies Database : Call for proposals | Quebec Population Health Research Network

INTRODUCTION

The PolÉthicas case studies database is a joint initiative of the Public Policy and Ethics Axes of the Quebec Population Health Research Network (RRSPQ). The PolÉthicas database aims to capitalize on the expertise of the research community to pool and enhance the knowledge and practices developed to date on public policy and ethical analysis. Political science provides public health actors with tools to better understand the development of public policy, while public health ethics (PHE) offers resources for critically assessing the moral justification for public policies in order to improve dialogue and transparency in the decision-making process and thus anticipate its impact on practice. The case study approach allows for the examination of social problems, in a variety of contexts, and with a specific focus on ethical issues that may affect public policy in population health.

The database was created in 2017. It contains 14 cases, 13 of which are in French and 1 in English. Key themes addressed in the case studies include environmental health and toxicology, lifestyle and chronic disease prevention, health promotion, social development, occupational health, violence and trauma prevention, and First Nations health. The problems analyzed in the cases are technical, social and/or economic in nature. They may are situated at different levels (provincial, national or international) and at different stages of the policy process (emergence, agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation or evaluation). A new collaboration has recently been established with the Canadian Journal of Bioethics, which will allow applicant to submit the final version of their case studies for potential publication in the journal (subject to the journal’s review and evaluation procedures).

AIM OF THE COMPETITION

To this end, the RRSPQ's Public Policy and Population Health and Ethics Axes are pleased to announce the launch of a competition to support the production of case studies that will address issues related to healthy public policies and analyze the ethical issues that they raise. The main focus is to provide a better understanding of public policy making and of the decision-making process, and to identifiy ethical issues in the context of public policies related to population health. The PolÉthicas database aims to be a pedagogical and research tool for students, researchers and policymakers, and for public health managers and professionals.

The case studies will be published online in the PolÉthicas database and will be accessible to the public. Through a new collaboration with the Canadian Journal of Bioethics, case study authors will also submit their case to this journal, either in French or in English.

For this competition, the funding selection will be made on the basis of case summaries. The complete case study is to be prepared after the acceptance of the proposal. There are two case study formats possible and cases may be written in English or French.

Recipients are required to submit their completed case study by November 15, 2023. Before publication on the Polethicas website, the case will be reviewed by a committee for final acceptance. Revisions may be requested from the author.

Format 1 (in text format) :

A text written in the form of a peer-reviewed article and must meet the following requirements:

Between 3500 and 5000 words: original theoretical or conceptual research, or a review article,
Must be inspired by the outline available in the Guide for Authors available here,
To learn more about the guidelines for the complete version of the case for publication, please see our Guide for Authors by clicking here,

The subsequent submission to the Canadian Journal of Bioethics will follow their peer-reviewed research article format.

Format 2: Hybrid (in an alternative format composed in two parts) :

For this type of submission, you can submit a case study in an alternative format that will be accessible online in the PolÉthicas database (in French or in English), i.e. a podcast, a video clip, a web-based training module or other production style that permits the examination and analysis of an ethical issue and which can foster reflection and, ultimately, learning about deliberation.

This alternative production must be supported by a peer-reviewed text (a shorter written production) of 1500-2000 words: a clear and concise critical reflection to facilitate the use of the videoclip, comic, podcast or other format.

The subsequent submission to the Canadian Journal of Bioethics, will follow their case study format (for the video, podcast, etc.) and peer-reviewed critical commentary format (for the supporting text portion).

To learn more about the guidelines for the complete version of the case for publication, please see our Guide for Authors by clicking here.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Proposals can be written in French or English. They must be submitted by completing the form available here, by January 31, 2023, at 5:00 pm. Only complete proposals will be considered for evaluation:

A form to be completed online, including the following information:
- A summary of the case, (350 words max.);
- A one-page presentation of the case, containing the following elements:
  - Relevance of the topic to healthy public policy and ethics (max. 150 words)
  - Data sources, originality and quality (max. 100 words)
  - Usefulness for the concerned actors and the potential to promote dialogue between actors from different backgrounds (max. 150 words)
  - The amount requested up to $4,000 and a justification of the budget.
A CV (free format) of the principal author of the application.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

This competition is open to all regular research members and student members of the RRSPQ.
Authors must ensure that there are no publication rights conflicts as cases will be published online in the PolÉthicas database and accessible to the public and may be published in the Canadian Journal of Bioethics.
The same publication cannot be funded more than once by the RRSPQ and its axes and training programs.
The same author may submit multiple submissions or appear as a co-author in multiple submissions to the current publication support competitions organized by the RRSPQ and its Axes. However, in order to give equitable access to this publication support to the greatest number of our members, the same author cannot be funded more than once per year.
If an author (whoever he or she may be) appears in more than one submission, priority may be given to the submission with the highest score in the evaluation.
RRSPQ student members may submit entries to different annual competitions of the Network and its Axes. However, a master's student may not receive more than $5,000 per year in financial support, and a doctoral student or postdoctoral fellow may not receive more than $10,000 per year.

CASE PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation of the cases will be done by a peer review committee of QPHRN members on the basis of the following elements:

Scientific quality: clarity of the problem and objectives; feasibility of the proposal; expected results and potential impact (40%)
Relevance of the topic to healthy public policy and ethics (30%)
Originality of the project (15%),
Usefulness for the concerned actors and the potential to promote dialogue between actors from different backgrounds (15%)

COMMITMENT OF THE RECIPIENTS

Recipients agree to publish the title and an abstract of their publication (in French and English) on the RRSPQ website, upon announcement of their selection.
Recipients are required to submit a full manuscript of their case by November 15, 2023 . Before publication, the case will be reviewed by a committee for final acceptance. Revisions may be requested from the author.
Funded authors agree to acknowledge the financial participation of the RRSPQ and to use the RRSPQ logo (if possible) in all activities resulting from the funded project, including publications, announcements and communications. The following wording is suggested:
"The authors thank the Public Policy and Population Health axis of the Quebec Population Health Research Network (RRSPQ) for its contribution to the funding of this publication."

For references, see the case studies available here.

For further information, please contact Maël Permal, coordinator of the Public Policy and Population Health axis, at the following address: permal.mael_neema@uqam.ca or with Tzvetelina Tzoneva, coordinator of the Ethics axis at the following address: tzvetelina.tzoneva@mcgill.ca.