Inventory and Monitoring Division protocol review guidance
Mitchell B, Chung-MacCoubrey A, Comiskey J, Garrett L, MacCluskie M, Moore B, Philippi T, Sanders G, Schmit JP. 2018. Inventory and Monitoring Division protocol review guidance. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NRSS/IMD/NRR—2018/1644. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This document provides guidelines for protocol reviews designed to ensure accountability, scientific integrity, and compliance with existing policy and guidance. In particular, this document standardizes the process for regular operational reviews, encouraging networks to maintain the connection between protocol documents and field practices, providing a formal and defensible approach to reviewing and revising protocols and vital signs, and ensuring that national and division peer review requirements are met during protocol reviews. This standardization contributes to the scientific integrity of monitoring protocols and networks. Protocol reviews are divided into operational reviews and three types of scientific reviews (targeted, full, and multi-protocol/network). Each type of review has a different purpose, trigger, time frame, and outcomes. An operational review evaluates effectiveness and challenges of protocol implementation as prescribed in existing documentation. Targeted and full scientific reviews ensure that a protocol or group of related protocols clearly meets the stated objectives and reflects the highest scientific standards, given resource and other limitations. A multi-protocol review is considered a special case of a scientific review and is a high-level review of the network’s science and vital signs. This document provides detailed guidance on review procedures to provide networks with a formal and approved approach and a clearly defined path to follow. Guidance for each type of review is based on a “panel” format, which may not be the preferred approach in all cases. Networks may choose to implement other approaches for operational and scientific reviews of vital signs monitoring protocols, provided they are developed in collaboration with the regional program manager and the following minimum requirements are met: • An operational review of every implemented protocol must be conducted annually. • Operational reviews must produce the required outcomes described in the Operational Review Overview. • Scientific reviews must be conducted when a network desires or is directed to consider substantive revisions to a protocol. • A multi-protocol review must be conducted when a network desires or is directed to consider changes to the vital signs monitoring plan. • Protocol reviews and multi-protocol reviews must produce the required outcomes described in the Scientific Review Overview. The regional program manager will determine whether the network’s approach will meet the review’s intent, as specified in this guidance.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Mitchell, Brian; Chung-MacCoubrey, Alice; Comiskey, Jim; Garrett, Lisa; MacCluskie, Maggie; Moore, Bill; Philippi, Tom; Sanders, Geoff; Schmit, John
- Date of Issue
- 2018-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- IMD , NRSS
- Keywords
- full protocol review, guidance, guidelines, IMD procedures, multi-protocol review, operational review, protocol review, protocol review guidelines, science review, scientific review, targeted protocol review