Guidelines for Submission of Research Surveys of the ESPU Membership

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The ESPU Research Committee will endeavor to assist in the distribution of surveys created by ESPU members for research purposes promoting the advancement of knowledge related to pediatric urology. The Research Committee will consider the following points before agreeing to distribute surveys on behalf of member survey authors to the ESPU membership.

There is no formal review – response – appeals process as for journal articles. No comments will be provided to surveys rejected for distribution. Submission of a survey in no way assures the Research Committee will agree to its distribution.

If selected for distribution, surveys will carry the following introduction by the ESPU Research Committee:

“The following survey is not endorsed or authored by the ESPU nor its Research Committee. As a benefit of membership, the ESPU helps put members in touch with one another for the purposes of research and education. However, the ESPU Research Committee prescreens survey submissions for quality of the research question and significance of potential results, clarity and size of the survey in supporting the research question, and target audience appropriateness. Completion of the survey is purely voluntary".

Survey authors are therefore encouraged to consider the following points when designing a survey intended for response by the ESPU membership.

Significance of potential results. Surveys showing evidence of furthering understanding of existing challenges in the field, casting new light on little understood areas, as well as acknowledging the existing knowledge gaps and deficiencies the survey is designed to address will be given preference.
Quality of research question. Surveys should support research questions that are clearly formulated and that show impact. Vague or highly niche questions will be unlikely to garner significant response nor selected for distribution.
Clarity (quality) of the questions that support the research question & reasonableness of number of questions. Questions should be both clear, and as brief and to the point of the research question(s) as possible. A limited number of questions is encouraged.
Appropriateness of target audience. Research questions in pediatric urology can have a global impact. However, surveys should consider the composition of the ESPU Membership. Surveys that address questions that are unlikely to apply to ESPU members, will probably not be distributed via the ESPU Research Committee.