Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
F1000Res. 2024 Aug 8;13:909. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.153447.1. eCollection 2024.
'Research capacity strengthening' (RCS) is an umbrella term that can be used to describe a wide variety of activities conducted in support of diverse objectives premised upon distinct, potentially opposing, views. Despite this, the ultimate objective of RCS activities is rarely made explicit which can be problematic when diverse objectives are possible. By 'ultimate' objective we are referring to the overarching (often long-term) goal an RCS initiative is intended to contribute towards (e.g. better population health) as opposed to the more immediate 'proximate' (often short-term) objectives of any such activity (e.g. improved capacity to undertake infectious disease research). We argue a need for those funding, designing and implementing RCS initiatives to make clear statements as to the ultimate objective that they foresee their respective initiative contributing towards as well as the proposed pathway and associated assumptions that underlie their approach. Examples of distinct ultimate objectives for RCS initiatives are presented alongside fictitious examples of how they may be transparently reported from both a funder and implementor perspective. Such transparency should be routine within the scope of funding calls for RCS activities (even when such activities are only a minor component of the call), subsequent applications to those calls and any description of an applied RCS activity/ies and/or the associated outcomes thereof. The process of determining one's ultimate objective will further cause funders and actors to think through their respective initiatives more thoroughly and make informed choices and better designed RCS projects. Doing so would reduce any ambiguity associated with the use of the term 'research capacity strengthening' and would provide a stronger foundation for robust programme evaluation.
“研究能力增强”（RCS）是一个总称，可以用来描述各种支持不同目标的活动，这些目标基于不同的、潜在对立的观点。尽管如此，RCS 活动的最终目标很少明确说明，这在可能存在多种目标的情况下可能会出现问题。我们所说的“最终”目标是指 RCS 计划旨在为其做出贡献的总体（通常是长期）目标（例如改善人口健康），而不是任何此类活动的更直接的“近期”（通常是短期）目标（例如，提高开展传染病研究的能力）。我们认为，有必要让那些为 RCS 计划提供资金、进行设计和实施的人明确说明他们所预见的计划对最终目标的贡献，以及他们所采用的方法和相关假设。提出了 RCS 计划的不同最终目标的例子，以及从资助者和执行者的角度如何透明地报告这些目标的虚构例子。这种透明度应该在 RCS 活动的资助呼吁范围内成为常规做法（即使这些活动只是呼吁的一小部分），随后对这些呼吁的申请以及对所应用的 RCS 活动/或其相关结果的任何描述。确定最终目标的过程将进一步促使资助者和参与者更全面地思考他们各自的计划，并做出明智的选择和更好设计的 RCS 项目。这样做将减少与使用“研究能力增强”一词相关的任何模糊性，并为强有力的方案评估提供更坚实的基础。
