Research Principles and Policy
Summary of Guiding Principles

The Commission’s approach to its research program can be summarized in the following principles:

• Independence – research should aim to provide the Commission with independent analysis and fresh perspectives.
  
  

• Focus and effectiveness – the research program should focus on effectively summarizing and reaching conclusions based on existing knowledge, and on filling key gaps in that knowledge, reflecting the constraints of the one-year duration of the Commission mandate and a limited budget.
  
  

• Professional standards and quality – the Commission expects that all research, whether internal or externally procured, will meet professional and ethical standards, including those of specific analytical disciplines.
  
  

• Inclusiveness – the research plan will seek to reflect the diversity of Newfoundland and Labrador society, including among others men and women, youth and aged, Aboriginal Peoples, and racial and other minorities.
  
  

• Integrity of review – all research will undergo a defined review process, including a process of the review of academic research by academic peers.
  
  

• Public dissemination – the Commission will release to the public and, where resources permit, publish separately, research that meets professional standards.

1.1 Research –the uncovering of knowledge and its application to policy issues – is a key ingredient to a successful Royal Commission. Defining the parameters of the research process and the framework for how decisions about research are to be made is essential to an effective research program.

1.2 This paper is intended to provide guidance to the overall research process of the Royal Commission by clarifying the purposes of research and its role in the Commission mandate. It also provides a policy framework for the main stages of work in the research program.

2. The Purpose and Role of Research in the Mandate of the Commission

2.1 This Commission must address a wide set of issues, as indicated by the following key features of the official Terms of Reference:

• A broad consensus on a vision for the future and identification of ways for Newfoundland and Labrador to renew and strengthen our place in Canada;

• A critical analysis of our strengths and weaknesses in order to make recommendations as to how best to achieve prosperity and self reliance;

• Expectations prior to joining Canada;

  • The ways in which Newfoundland and Labrador is viewed in Canada

  • The effect of the Terms of Union and their evolution;

  • The special and unique contributions of Newfoundland and Labrador to Canada;

  • Arrangements with Canada which hamper or detract from our ability to attain prosperity and self-reliance;

  • Demographic changes and their impact;

  • Taking advantage of our strategic location between North America and Europe …opportunities in the global economy.

2.2 Research will serve the Commission’s mandate to report on these issues in a variety of ways:

• By assisting Commissioners in understanding the issues and preparing their report.

• By providing stand-alone and independent analysis of the issues

• By generating new ideas and ways of thinking about public policy issues addressed by the Commission.

• By communicating the issues to and informing the public in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Canada as a whole.

2.3 The complex subject matter of the Commission mandate must be analyzed and understood before the Commission can make its recommendations. Furthermore, some of the issues require the laying out of technical background and detail that also requires supplementary research reports. Also, the Commission’s independence and its ability to take a fresh perspective will be enhanced by independent research.

2.4 The research program’s role to generate new ideas and perspectives for policy-makers and decision-leaders is especially vital for this Commission, which must present views and evidence not just to the Government and people of Newfoundland and Labrador, but to Canadians more broadly.

2.5 In summary, any one of the key themes in this Commission’s mandate involves the marshalling of considerable information, careful analysis of the facts and the weighing of differing interpretations and policy options. Taking all the themes together presents a significant challenge for a research program – more especially in light of the requirement to present a report within one year. Fortunately, our initial sounding indicates that much information and some careful analysis have been done already of many on the issues. There is no need to duplicate research already completed, but there is a need to identify the remaining gaps and fill them as best we can in the time available. The more important task is to draw together the relevant research into a coherent package. Therefore, even if one may ideally have more time to undertake lengthier and more extensive research, we are confident that a modest and focused effort will serve our purposes.

3. Research Plan Process

3.1 The research planning process is one of defining the information and analytical needs of the Commission and putting in place the means to do this. It involves work internal and external to the Commission. Internally, part of the task is identifying information that is available already and if need be summarizing it and drawing out the relevant facts. Also, many short turn-around or very specific research tasks can best be performed in-house. However, much of the broader research effort will be done externally by the provision of specific information and analysis for the Commission by government agencies, and by contracts with consultants, including university-based researchers. It will be important to the integrity and credibility of the Commission that all of this research, both internal and external, be undertaken according to professional norms and, as required, disciplinary standards, and be subjected to appropriate forms of independent review (see below).

3.2 The research plan must be an integral part of the work of the Commission, directed by the Commissioners, meeting their full approval and understanding. Commission staff will advise on what research to do and how to do it, and further advice will be obtained from external consultations. Nonetheless, the overall research plan will be made with the full involvement and approval of the Commissioners. They will approve in principle every research project before it is undertaken.

3.3 Within the Commission staff, the Director of Research will be responsible through the Deputy Minister, for the provision of advice and the implementation of the research plan, including the process outlined below concerning research procurement, the review process, and final dissemination. The Director of Research will advise the Deputy Minister on the estimated costs of individual research projects as they are identified and scoped out. All research procurement will be subject to the budgetary process of the Commission.

3.4 The title and basic description of all external and any major internal research projects, as well as the person or agency responsible, will be included in a summary document outlining the research plan. The summary document will be kept as up to date as possible and will be posted on the Commission website as soon as it is available.

4. Consultation on the Research Program

4.1 The Terms of Reference of the Commission state that the research phase should be "guided by public input". The general public will be provided with basic information on the research program through the website, with an opportunity to make comments to the Commission. More specific input will be explicitly sought through the following means.

4.2 The Commission has established a research advisory roundtable, which will be consulted on the research plan, and on all aspects of the research process, including this policy document (see Appendix A for list of persons).

4.3 The Commission will consult individually and informally with leading scholars and expert consultants in the key fields of research relevant to the Commission.

4.4. The Commission’s roundtables and the other general public consultation mechanisms such as the public hearings will also provide information and perspectives on the Commission issues, which will be incorporated as an integral part of the Commission’s findings. These forums may also provide ideas for further research, which could be added to the formal research program as time and resources permit.

4.5 Individual university-based or independent professors, researchers and students -- to the extent to which they are not directly involved in the specific research projects – will be encouraged to submit their scholarship and perspectives in individual submissions to the Commission.

5. Research Procurement

5.1 Research will be procured from a variety of sources. These include:

• existing studies and data that are in the public domain or which may be purchased "off the shelf;"
• summaries of studies, or analysis of existing studies undertaken by Commission staff;
• research projects undertaken by Commission staff;
• reports, analysis and other inputs provided through the cooperation of provincial and federal government departments and agencies;
• research products contracted from independent external service providers, including university researchers.

5.2 All research procured from outside the Commission and government agencies will be governed by the Province’s service contract regulations. A basic supply contract is required, and each research product will need specific terms of reference indicating the detailed issues or questions to be covered, the approximate length, deliverable date, price and payment procedures, etc. For research projects which do not exceed an estimated cost of $50,000, the Commission will in effect invite individual consultants (including academic researchers) to reach agreement on a proposed project. It is the expectation that this process will cover almost all of the proposed research projects, but some projects may be awarded by a call for proposals.

5.3 The general contract language with external research providers will specify that the Commission owns the intellectual property purchased by the contract. The Commission will decide what if any use to make of the research, and is under no obligation to publish it, or otherwise make it available. External research contracts may allow that, should the Commission not release or publish a research study after a reasonable period of time, the Commission would not unreasonably deny the researcher the right to publish elsewhere the work they undertook for the Commission (see also parts 6 and 7 below).

6. Review Process

6.1 The research program will follow generally the following stages:

• Initial scoping, recruitment of provider(s) and negotiation of terms for each project;

• Monitoring of the progress of research and providing guidance where needed;

• A review by the Commission of the initial completed product to determine if it meets the terms of reference and what if any modification may be requested of the author for those reasons;

• The initiation of a peer review process, especially for academic research.

• Summary analysis of research for Commissioners to draw out policy implications for purposes of drafting the Commission report;

6.2 The Director of Research assisted by Commission staff will undertake the planning and implementation of each of these stages. Commissioners will have full access to any research product received (electronic files will be mandatory for all products). Commissioners will be provided with regular reports on the status of projects in the research plan.

6.3 All research studies will undergo an internal review process at the Commission to ascertain whether research studies meet the terms of reference prepared for them, how competently that task has been achieved, and whether any revisions need to be made to the study to meet the terms of reference.

6.4 Internal review will also proceed to provide a summary analysis of policy implications relevant to the preparation of the Commission’s report.

6.5 The external review process will apply to all contracted research and, where desired, selected research products done in-house. In the case of work procured from academic researchers, peer review will be by two persons in the same or closely related disciplines, requested to provide to the Commission their views on 1) the relevance of the work to the specific project terms of reference, 2) the soundness of the research or analytical methods applied and/or 3) whether they would draw the same conclusions from the research; and 4) whether the research report merits publication. The Commission will exercise its judgment on a case by case basis as to whether other research products require an independent appraisal apart from the Commission’s own internal review.

7. Research Dissemination

7.1 One important purpose of research is to provide independent findings relevant to the Commission mandate, and to disseminate new ideas and scholarly information on the issues. Much but not necessarily all of the output of the research program will be made available to the public, and disseminated as widely as the formal Commission reports themselves. The objective is to have a set of research studies that meet professional standards, that make a genuine contribution to knowledge, and that receive the requisite peer review and editorial revision to merit stand-alone publication.

7.2 The Commission is under no obligation to publish or otherwise release any research work that, in its judgment or in the judgment of the academic peer review process, does not meet professional standards. Publishing a work of research under the name of the Commission does not imply that the Commission agrees with the views or recommendations of that study, and the conclusions of any particular study may differ from the Commission’s collective judgment such as expressed in the final report. For work by academic researchers, the Commission commits that it will publish or otherwise release the work, subject only to budgetary constraints, if it has met the approval of the peer review process.

7.3 The Director of Research will make a final recommendation to the Commissioners about whether and how to publish any research product. The Commissioners will make the final approval to publish or publicly release research studies.

7.4 The dissemination of research products will be subject to further budgetary planning and review as publication costs can mount unexpectedly and vary greatly according to production specifications, print runs, editorial requirements, translation, and formatting. Publication on the Commission’s website, using easily down-loadable PDF files, may be an acceptable alternative to a bound volume(s) of research studies. Whatever the final format, all the finished products will meet consistent and professional editorial and presentation standards. In addition all pieces approved for publication will be treated in a similar fashion with respect to editorial quality and formatting.

September 20, 2002

Research Advisory Roundtable Members

• Peter Boswell, Department Head, Political Science, Memorial University
• Sean Cadigan, Director, Public Policy Research Centre, Memorial University
• David Facey-Crowther, Department Head, History, Memorial University
• Chris Loomis, Vice-President Research & International Relations, Memorial University
• Art May, President Emeritus, Memorial University
• Jim Tuck, Research Director, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University
• David Vardy, Channing Fellow, Public Policy Research Centre
• Judith Whittick, Director, Centre for Cold Oceans Research, Memorial University