Research

3.0 Criteria for Promotion
3.1 Research
3.1.1 Attributes

(From the Academic Promotion Manual 2011 *Revised - August 2011* , Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto)

Successful research leads to the advancement of knowledge through contributions of an original nature. Promotion to Associate or Full Professor based on research requires that the candidate has a record of sustained and current productivity in research and research-related activities. For the criterion of excellent achievement in research to be met in the Faculty of Medicine, the research should result in significant changes in the understanding of basic mechanisms of molecular or cellular function and disease, clinical care, health services delivery or health policy, or the social sciences and humanities as applied to health. The researcher’s work should present creative insights, ideas or concepts, and must have yielded a significant quantity of information leading to new understanding. The new information may
derive from the invention and/or application of new techniques, novel experimental approaches and/or the identification and formulation of new questions or concepts. It is expected that research advances will be communicated through the publication of papers, reviews, books and other scholarly works. The quality of the scholarship in research will be judged in comparison to peers in the Faculty of Medicine and to others in the same field at peer institutions. Requirements for documentation in each of the areas whose attributes are described below are outlined in further detail in Sections 3.1.3, 4.1 and 4.2.

Research Funding
Sources of funding may vary depending on the area of research. Not all research requires external funding. However, as a general rule, the individual seeking promotion on the basis of achievement in research should have a strong and continuing record of external funding commensurate with the type and area of research. Although usually recognition will be given to funding in the form of peer-reviewed grants, other sources may be appropriate. For instance, funding from industry may be a major source available to basic and clinical scientists performing clinical trials, studying new drugs and developing new technologies. This funding is expected to comply with the conflict of interest guidelines in the Faculty of Medicine.  Funding from other agencies may be an appropriate source of support for population-based or health services researchers. Whatever the source of funding, the investigator must be able to show that he/she has played a significant intellectual and administrative role in the research as evidenced by the investigator having a role in the design, analysis or publication of the study, or being part of a Steering Committee. For instance, individuals participating in collaborative group grants must be able to provide evidence of intellectual input into the research and not simply a technical contribution.

Publications
There must be a sustained record of scientific publications demonstrating that the research has led to a significant source of new information in the field. Publications should appear as articles in major peer-reviewed journals, as books and as book chapters published by academic presses. Published abstracts accepted for presentation at major national and international scientific conferences also provide evidence that the research in progress is being disseminated to the scientific community.

Scientific Presentations
Presentations made at national and international meetings recognized as the significant academic venues for presenting research in that area will be considered. Invited presentations and named lectureships are a particular indicator of the individual’s reputation outside the university. Invited presentations at other venues such as academic institutions, industry settings and outreach lectures to the lay community should also be included.

Participation, Leadership and Mentorship in the Research Community
This category may include a range of additional research-related activities that contribute significantly to the relevant field of study in the scientific community. Examples of such activities include organization of international research meetings or symposia, leadership in research committees at national or international levels, leadership in development or promotion of research infrastructure and support at university, national or international levels, leadership in group grants, participation on peer review grant panels, membership on research ethics or animal care committees, membership on editorial boards of scientific publications, participation in the peer review of scientific manuscripts, membership on consensus conferences, scientific advisory boards and councils, and support and mentorship of young
investigators.

3.1.2 Assessment
According to the University of Toronto Policy and Procedures Governing Promotions(Paragraph 11b), to assess the candidate’s scholarly research activity, publications and other evidence must be evaluated. The evidence of scholarship will be contained in the candidate's curriculum vitae (Section 4.1) and related documents. The candidate is also responsible for providing copies of selected published works, and giving information about non-written work in an appropriate form, to the Chair, who should arrange for its assessment by specialists in the candidate's field. The candidate may choose to provide unpublished work and work in progress for consideration, but such work will not be communicated outside the University without the candidate's permission. Confidential written assessments of the candidate's work should be obtained from specialists in the candidate's field from outside the University and whenever possible from inside the University. When a faculty member is or recently has been cross-appointed to another department, assessments of scholarship should be sought from the other department.  Assessments will be performed on the basis of the originality and importance of the research, its impact on the discipline, and a judgement of the candidate’s stature in the field relative to his/her peers locally, nationally and internationally.

3.1.3 Documentation
In general, documentation of the candidate’s research activities is provided within the curriculum vitae. Those elements of the curriculum vitae that are of particular relevance to the assessment of scholarship in research are discussed in general terms below, in order of their appearance in the curriculum vitae. A more detailed description of the required format of the curriculum vitae is provided in Section 4.1.

Professional Affiliations and Activities
In this section the candidate is asked to provide relevant information about additional participation, leadership and mentorship activities in the research community. A brief elaboration of the candidate’s role in each activity listed should be provided as appropriate.  Examples of relevant activities include, but are not restricted to:

• Organization of national and/or international research meetings or symposia
• Leadership role in research committees at national or international levels.
• Leadership in the development or promotion of research infrastructure and support at university, national or international levels
• Leadership in group grants
• Participation on peer review grant panels
• Chairing or participating on a research ethics or animal care committee
• Membership on editorial boards
• Membership in scientific societies
• Record of participation in the peer review of scientific manuscripts
• Membership on consensus conferences
• Record of support and mentorship of younger investigators

Research Statement
The candidate should prepare a one to two page statement of research activities, summarizing the research program(s) and providing a narrative describing the importance and impact of the research.

Research Funding
The candidate should list and provide the value of all sources of funding since the last promotion, including peer-reviewed and industrial grants and contracts, as well as paid fellowship, scientist and research chair awards. The candidate’s status on grants and contracts should be specified, such as Principal Investigator (PI), Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI), Co-Investigator (Co-I), or Collaborator (COLL) or Co-Author (CA).

Patents Awarded
Provisional and full patents applied for, pending or held since the last promotion should be listed. These should be cross-referenced in the CPA section of the document, if one exists.

• Refereed and non-refereed publications should be listed separately
• Published papers and papers in press should be listed separately from submitted papers
• Abstracts should be listed separately from other publications
• Books, edited books and book chapters should be listed separately
• For each publication, the candidate must clearly indicate his/her level of contribution for each publication – as the Senior Responsible Author (SRA), the Principal Author (PA), the Co-Principal Author (Co-PA), or a Collaborator (COLL). Further definitions of these distinctions are provided in Section 4.1.
• Where authorship includes trainees, the candidate should indicate the supervisory role,
  e.g. primary supervisor, co-supervisor, member of graduate committee, etc.
• Because of variability in journal impact factors and citation indices across fields, such information is not required or expected.
• Unpublished work and work in progress may also be submitted for consideration.
• The candidate should list and submit his or her five most important publications since the last promotion, with a brief explanation of the impact of each of these publications on the field. Copies of these publications should be attached to the Promotions Dossier.

Presentations and Special Lectures
In documenting presentations and lectures, the candidate should specify the nature of the presentation and the audience, making a distinction between invited lectures – including keynote lectures, plenary lectures and concurrent sessions at scientific meetings – and presentations of accepted abstracts of original research. In instances of multi-authored abstract presentations, the candidate should also indicate whether he/she was the presenter or whether the presenter was a trainee directly supervised by the candidate.