Helping Give Away Psychological Science/Standard Operating Procedures/Project approval process

Project Proposal and Approval Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
This SOP outlines how to propose a new project or to update the goals of an existing project using the project proposal form. Below we detail how to fill out the form and what information you should include in your answers to the questions. The bolded words are the questions you will need to complete on the project proposal form whereas the information in regular type describes our suggestions and advice for filling out these questions.

Project Title: make sure your project name gives a picture of what your project is.

Designated "Water Carrier" for project (name/email): You should have a designated water carrier for the project, please see the SOP for water carriers here.

Committed Team Members (name/email): You should make sure you have team members who are committed to the project and willing to work until the project is completed. These team members should consistently come to meetings, communicate via the slack channel, and work on assigned tasks.

Adviser (name/email): Make sure to have a committed adviser and review the project proposal form with them before you submit. The adviser can be Dr. Youngstrom, a board member, or a professional outside of HGAPS who has expertise in the area of your project, is willing to work with you on the project, and agrees to adhere to the HGAPS mission.

Qualifications (describe team's experience as it relates to their ability to successfully complete the proposed project): In this section you should list any relevant experience team members have. This can include education, prior research experience or clinical work, or other related experiences. There should be at least one team member who has relevant experience. It is okay to have people on the team who are new to the topic as long as there are others with experience who are willing and able to lead.


 * Example 1: XXX person has been working on research related to this topic for __ years and is a doctoral student in clinical psychology currently researching this topic. They also have done clinical work related to assessment and therefore understand the measures we are working with.
 * Example 2: XXX person is fluent in __ languages and therefore can assist in the translations of assessments that our team is working on.

'''Please provide a brief description of the background and significance of this project - explain why this project is important. Make sure to define any terms/acronyms of which people unfamiliar with your project may not be aware.''' People reviewing your project may not be familiar with the topic or methods. It is important to give them the information that they need to fairly evaluate your proposal. This question should give the reviewer all the information to understand why and how you plan to do your project.

First objective (e.g., what is the first thing you plan to accomplish with this project): HGAPS uses OKRs (objectives and key results) to measure goals and progress on projects. Your objective should be an overarching goal of your project. For example, an objective could be to host an edit-a-thon to make new biography pages of psychologists. Here is the SOP for writing OKRs.

Key results necessary to meet the First Objective (i.e., how will you achieve your first objective): Key results should be the measurable steps you can take to achieve the objective. There should be 3-4 key results per objective. Using the above example of the edit-a-thon, some key results could be to plan the date and time for the edit-a-thon, publicize the event with registration, compile a list of names you want to make pages for, hold the edit-a-thon and make new pages.

Date first OKR will be completed: This is the date in which you anticipate the first OKR to be completed. This date is flexible, but it should be an attainable date in which you are likely to achieve.

For the next 6 questions related to OKRs, follow the above steps.

For any additional OKRs, please describe and list date of completion below: If you have more than three OKRs, you can list them here. You do not need to have more than three, this is only if your project calls for more than three.

Describe how the proposed work fits HGAPS mission and priorities (“Bridge the science-practice gap by collecting, distilling, and sharing psychological science to promote well-being in the community”): In this section you will want to describe how your project fits into the HGAPS mission. Focus on how your project will work to disseminate psychological information on open source platforms. This can be related to posting your research on OSF, posting your work on wiki platforms, publishing in a WikiJournal, etc.

'''Who is the audience/end user for this project? Does this fit HGAPS mission?:''' Who is the primary audience for the products that this project will create? This could be the general public, community clinicians, or others through whom your project will promote well-being. Projects conducted to reach researchers, academics, or others who are not directly involved with the community will be reviewed less favorably.

'''Does this project overlap with other internal or external initiatives or resources? If yes, please describe the unique contribution of this project:''' Are any other organizations or groups within HGAPS trying to do something similar to what you are aiming to do with this project? Are there other groups outside of HGAPS that are doing or have done something similar? It is important that you take the time to learn what else HGAPS is working on and to search online for work by outside groups that may overlap with yours. If there is overlap, explain how your project will add above-and-beyond what the others are doing/plan to do. We want to be sure everyone’s time is well-spent and dedicated to the projects that can have the biggest impact,

Project start date: When is the project anticipated to start?

Project end date (anticipated): What is the goal date for when all objectives will be met and this project will end?

Estimated Time Required: This does not need to be an exact estimation of hours it will take to complete the project. Rather you can give a gist of if the project will be roughly a semester or longer term such as a year or multi-year project.

Key Date 1: (e.g., when will project first be evaluated to ensure it is on track): This is the date when a member of the board will reach out to check on your progress. This is mostly just a chance for the board to get an update on the progress of your project. Follow the same guidelines for other key dates.

Products (i.e., primary output of project): This is where you will check off what tangibles you will have for your project. Some projects may have a mix of these products whereas others may only have one type.


 * Wiki pages: a wiki page is a very common product for HGAPS and most projects will have this as a product. Wiki pages include pages on any wiki platform including Wikiversity, Wikipedia, Commons, etc. Click here for an example.
 * Online resource: many projects will lead to the development or expansion of online tools and resources. These should be free and easily accessible by the intended audience. The Assessment Center is an example.
 * Infographics: This product is visual that is used to represent information or data. There are usually charts or diagrams to depict the data. Click here for an example.
 * Social Media Posts: Social media posts cover all forms of social media including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc. Click here for an example.
 * Articles: Articles include scientific papers usually written by teams working with data or conducting a review. Unless there are special circumstances, articles may not be the primary objective of a project.
 * Other: This option is if you have any products that are not listed above. You need to describe what these products are.

Evaluation of impact (describe plan for measuring success of proposed work, including timeline (e.g., number of page views, downloads, other measurable impact?)): Here you should describe what methods you plan to use to measure success. Altmetrics is a common method for assessing scientific work. You can also use page views on wiki platforms, downloads on OSF, etc. Your adviser can also help you come up with ways to measure success of your work.

Critical Dependency & Mitigation (are there other resources - information, expertise, money - necessary for your proposal to be successful? If so, how will you secure those resources? Do you anticipate any problems securing these resources?): In this section, please describe any resources you need to successfully complete your project. It is better to have secured these resources before you submit your proposal. If you haven’t, describe your plan for securing the resources and outline potential problems and how you plan to address them. It can be helpful to talk with the project adviser about what resources you may need and how to get them.

'''Does this project require a sustainability plan (i.e., is this something that will need to be updated/maintained over time)? If yes, please describe the plan:''' Most projects will require a sustainability plan; science changes over time, as do web links, clinical recommendations, etc. To meet our goal of improving well-being, we must do our best to ensure all information provided is up-to-date. Please include the following in your plan:


 * Who? Who is going to actually be in charge of sustaining your project?
 * When? When will the sustainability review and any necessary changes take place? When will will the review begging and how often will it occur
 * How? What are the procedures you intend to follow to sustain the project?
 * What? What components of the project need to be regularly reviewed for sustainability?

If you are requesting funding from HGAPS for this project, please upload a budget: There is a sample of what a proposed budget can look like that you should reference when making these requests. Projects aligned with vision/mission and represent a Board priority and request less than $500 are likely to be funded. Projects requesting $500-$1500 must be aligned with vision/mission and be a priority project. A project requesting more than $1500 has to be approved by the whole Board and would need to meet a high standard.

Your adviser must review and approve the project proposal before it is submitted. This has to be explicit. They must confirm to you verbally or in writing that they have read the completed form and agree to its contents.

What to expect after you submit your form.


 * If you are not requesting funding, your project will be reviewed within about two weeks. If you are requesting funding, the review may take up to five weeks. Make sure you account for this when developing your study timeline.
 * The person/people reviewing your project are likely to have questions/comments. If there are things you need to change in your project, you will need to update your project proposal form. The person who submits the form will receive an email copy of it, which will include a link enabling you to go back to edit it.
 * Once your project has been approved, you need to send Natalie confirmation of your approval and she will provide you with a project number. Project approval will also entitle you to a dedicated breakout room in the Thursday HGAPS meeting.
 * At least one week prior to the key date included in your project, you must write a brief update describing the progress you have made toward each goal to-date. You should also report on any delays or challenges you have encountered and how you plan to overcome them moving forward. If you want to make any substantive changes, you should also describe your desired changes. This report must be emailed to the person/people who originally reviewed your project by the key date to which you committed in your proposal. Your report should also include the next key date at which time your project will be reviewed again.