P

Paediatrics/paediatric care

A medical speciality focusing on healthcare and treatment for children (younger than 18 years old).

Participant

A participant is someone who volunteers to take part in a study or trial.

Participants may sometimes also be known as ‘subjects’.

Participatory research

Participatory research is research that depends on participants to volunteer to take part.

Usually, the research project will focus on an issue or aspect of a disease that is important to patients, caregivers, and service users.

In participatory research, participants are usually involved in the designing the project and gathering information.

Patient information sheet (PIS) / leaflet (PIL)

Patient information sheets/leaflets are documents written in plain (non-clinical) language, that researchers must provide to participants in their research project.

They explain what the study is about and what will be expected of the participants.

This is to help participants make informed decisions about whether or not to join a study.

Patient partner

Patient partners are collaborators in the research process who may help shape the design, data collection, analysis, dissemination and monitor research projects.

They may also be called co-researchers.

Patient and public involvement (PPI)

Patient and Public Involvement is also known as PPI.

In research, PPI representatives bring their experiences and knowledge into the discussion to help create better research.

This could be anything from help designing a new research project, to giving feedback on a completed research project, to sharing new research findings.

Peer review

Peer review is a system of making sure that research findings are accurate and valid.

This involves sharing a research paper with other experts and professionals (before it is published) for them to review.

These reviewers then comment on the research paper, including both the methods and the findings, and can suggest ways to make it better.

Protocol

A protocol is a method for carrying out an activity.

A research protocol outlines exactly what the researchers plan to do, what data they plan to collect, and how.

This helps Research Ethics Committees decide if a potential research project is ethical.

Principle Investigator (PI)

A Principle Investigator in a clinical trial is in charge of running the research at a specific site.

For instance, a clinical trial might have three hospitals all recruiting patients into the trial; each of these sites will have its own Principle Investigator.

Publication

A publication is a method of making research findings public.

Usually, this means publishing a peer-reviewed research paper in a medical journal, or presenting a poster at a conference.

It can also mean other ways of sharing information such as reports, books, or websites.