Tips on writing successful grant proposals.

Writing a grant proposal is both a means of obtaining research funds and of clarifying and developing a research project. When developing and writing a grant proposal, the applicant must consider the criteria used by funding agencies in its evaluation: expertise of the applicant, the research question, knowledge of the field, soundness of the research design, relevance, ethics and budget. Addressing these criteria will assist the applicant in developing an effective grant proposal. Applicants should also target their proposal to all agencies that have an interest in the field of the research. Alternative sources of research funds, such as private foundations, should be explored whenever possible. If an application is not funded, the researcher should use the reviewers' comments to improve the proposal for the purpose of resubmission. This article discusses some of the basics of preparing and submitting a grant proposal to funding agencies in order to obtain support for nursing research.