A-Z of useful terms

‘A’ list topic

Research suggestions under consideration as part of the HTA prioritisation process are initially prioritised into lists (A, B and C) for the advisory panels by Panel Senior Lecturers as an initial indication of the likely quality of a research suggestion.

Calls for research / Calls for proposals

Advertising of research topics where funding is available and where research teams are invited to submit their proposals for how they would undertake the research in question.

CINAHL

Searchable database for nursing and allied health literature.

Commissioning Board

The HTA Commissioning Board meets twice a year to assess the scientific merits of research proposals received, and to make funding recommendations to the HTA Prioritisation Strategy Group.

Commissioning brief

Research applicants are guided by commissioning briefs which provide supporting information such as fully defined research questions and requirements.

CONSORT

The CONSORT statement takes an evidence-based approach to improve the quality of reports of randomised controlled trials.

Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects

DARE contains summaries of systematic reviews which have met strict quality criteria. Included reviews have to be about the effects of interventions. Each summary also provides a critical commentary on the quality of the review. The database covers a broad range of health and social care topics and can be used for answering questions about the effects of interventions, as well as for developing guidelines and policy making.

Direct HTA

Research (either primary, evidence synthesis, pilot/feasibility studies or methodological) that is commissioned by the HTA programme where the research question has been defined by external researchers.

EMBASE

Biomedical and pharmacological database for information about medical and drug-related subjects.

Evidence Review Group reports

Research reports produced to support NICE’s Single Technology Appraisal process and which inform NICE’s Appraisal Committees in making decisions on clinical guidance.

Evidence synthesis

Using one or more validated methods to re-analyse existing primary research to summarise what is known about a question. HTA evidence synthesis usually includes a systematic review (based on a clearly formulated question using systematic and explicit methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect and analyse data from the studies included in the review). It may also include meta-analysis (statistical methods to combine research) and economic evaluations based e.g. on decision modelling.

Haldane principle

Principle that day-to-day decisions on scientific funding must be taken at arms length from ministers and civil servants

ISI Science Citation Index

Provides access to current and retrospective bibliographic information, author abstracts, and cited references from journals and other literature.

MEDLINE

Searchable database of peer-reviewed medical and healthcare journals.

Methodology

Research which deals with the methods of a particular discipline or field of study.

Monograph

Monographs are the published output from individual HTA-funded research projects, and are a work in one volume.

National Horizon Scanning Centre

The Centre identifies technologies that are likely to become important in the future, and considers what needs to be known about them.

Needs-led

By ‘needs-led’, we mean that HTA, unlike most other health research programmes, is driven by the information needs of the NHS. Systems to understand those information needs are therefore central to its raison d’etre.

Panel-HTA

Research (either primary or evidence synthesis) that is commissioned by the HTA programme where the research question has been defined by the HTA programme.

Peer review

Peer review is a process used for checking the work performed by one's equals (peers, or sometimes referred to as referees) to ensure it meets specific criteria.

Peer-reviewer

An expert in a particular area who peer-reviews a piece of work (see also Referee)

Pragmatic trials

Pragmatic trials test whether an intervention is effective in clinical practice, balancing relevance of results in real life with reliability and accuracy in academic terms. Participants reflect the population for whom the treatment is intended and exclusion criteria are kept to a minimum, so the findings of these trials will translate directly into benefit for many patients.

Primary research

Original research conducted to collect new data to answer a research problem. HTA primary research aims to test the effectiveness of an intervention by comparing it with another intervention and this is most often in the form of a randomised controlled trial.

Prioritisation Strategy Group

Research priorities from all four HTA advisory panels are finally agreed by the Prioritisation Strategy Group.

Project initiation meetings

All primary research project teams are invited to attend a project initiation meeting. Around three to four meetings are held per year, each attended by a maximum of four projects. The meetings provide a forum for discussing potential issues, and sharing information and ideas at the outset of a project.

Public advocates

Members of the public who have links with service user/carer networks, and who are sought so that they are able to draw on a wide body of public opinion when advising the HTA process on research topics.

QUOROM

Guidelines for Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews of Randomised Controlled Trials.

RCT

Randomised Controlled Trial - An experiment in which investigators randomly allocate eligible people into (e.g. treatment and control) groups to receive or not to receive one or more interventions that are being compared. The results are assessed by comparing outcomes in the treatment and control groups.

Referee

An expert in a particular area who peer-reviews a piece of work (see also Peer-reviewer)

Science-added

By ‘science-added’, we mean that HTA adds knowledge value at every stage of its processes, in order to ensure that researchers do indeed meet the information needs of the NHS.

Technology Assessment reports

Research reports produced to support NICE’s Multiple Technology Appraisal process and which inform NICE’s Appraisal Committees in making decisions on clinical guidance.

Themed calls

The same as above, but where there is a health theme to the research topic, e.g. medicines for children.

Vignette

Short briefing paper prepared by the Panel Researcher and Panel Senior Lecturers on a specific research area. Subject to external expert review prior to consideration by the panels.

View/download A-Z abbreviations (pdf, 14kb)

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