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ImpResPAC — Implementation Research Proposal Appraisal Criteria

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ImpResPAC — Implementation Research Proposal Appraisal Criteria

A comprehensive, quantitative tool to appraise the conceptual and methodological quality of implementation research proposals in healthcare — developed by ARC South London’s Centre for Implementation Science at King’s College London.

High-quality implementation research is fundamental to improving the adoption, implementation and sustainment of evidence-based interventions in healthcare.

Despite many similarities between what constitutes a high-quality implementation research proposal and research proposals in other scientific fields, important differences exist that need to be considered when designing and appraising the conceptual and methodological quality of implementation research proposals.

The ImpResPAC (Implementation Research Proposal Appraisal Criteria) is a comprehensive and in-depth quantitative appraisal tool to evaluate the conceptual and methodological quality of implementation research proposals in healthcare.

ImpResPAC

Implementation Research
Proposal Appraisal Criteria

A quantitative tool to appraise the conceptual and methodological quality of implementation research proposals

ImpResPAC at a glance

10
equally weighted domains
71
domain items across all 10 domains
68
international Expert Advisory Panel members
83%
of EAP agreed ImpResPAC provides a comprehensive, transparent and fair appraisal

Expert Advisory Panel endorsement

By reviewers:
79% appropriate • 74% acceptable • 64% feasible
By researchers:
91% appropriate • 86% acceptable • 81% feasible
By educators:
83% appropriate • 76% acceptable • 71% feasible

The 10 ImpResPAC domains

ImpResPAC contains 10 distinct but interrelated domains. Each domain represents a core element of implementation research and is weighted equally.

1

Implementation research characteristics

2

Implementation theories, models and frameworks

3

Implementation determinants

4

Implementation strategies

5

Service and patient outcomes

6

Implementation outcomes

7

Unintended consequences

8

Economic evaluation

9

Stakeholder involvement and engagement

10

Patient and public involvement and engagement

How ImpResPAC works

Each domain contains several items. Each item is indicative of high-quality implementation research. For each applicable item, the reviewer considers whether the proposed study partially or fully addresses the content of the domain item.

Based on the percentage of domain items partially or fully addressed, a score of 1–5 is assigned to each domain:

1
Very Poor
0–20%
2
Poor
21–40%
3
Fair
41–60%
4
Good
61–80%
5
Excellent
81–100%

📌 The percentage cut-off ranges above are for guidance only. Given the diversity and scope of implementation research, not every domain or domain item will be applicable to every proposal.

Calculating the global ImpResPAC score

The global ImpResPAC median score is calculated from all applicable domain scores. The overall score ranges from 1–5, with higher scores indicating higher quality proposals.

Example calculation

Domain scores (ascending order): 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4

Global ImpResPAC median score: 3.5 (Fair/Good)

Range: 3 (1–4)  •  Interquartile range: 1.5

In addition to the global median score, individual domain scores should also be considered — the global score may be inflated by domains scoring very highly while others score very poorly.

Who can use ImpResPAC?

🔍

Reviewers

Use ImpResPAC to inform funding decisions — identifying and differentiating between poor and excellent proposals, and providing structured feedback to research teams.

🔬

Researchers & practitioners

Use ImpResPAC to appraise the conceptual and methodological quality of your own implementation funding proposals before submission, identifying areas of weakness to address.

🏫

Educators

Use ImpResPAC as part of implementation capacity building initiatives — scoring proposals and providing detailed feedback to students.

📄

Download the ImpResPAC tool

The interactive PDF includes the full appraisal tool, scoring worksheet, worked example, glossary and references.

Download ImpResPAC (PDF) →

Published protocol

ImpResPAC development team

Dr Louise Hull

Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Implementation Science, King’s College London (contact: louise.hull@kcl.ac.uk)

Dr Lucy Goulding

Senior Evaluation and Insights Manager, UCLPartners

Dr Rachel Davis

Research Scientist, Evidera Inc PPD, part of ThermoFisher Scientific

Chloe Sweetnam

Accounts Supervisor, Petauri Kinect, New York, US

Dr Zarnie Khadjesari

Associate Professor in Health Sciences, University of East Anglia

Professor Annette Boaz

Professor of Health and Social Care, Policy Institute, King’s College London

Dr Andy Healey

Senior Health Economist, Centre for Implementation Science, King’s College London

Professor Ioannis Bakolis

Professor of Public Mental Health and Statistics, Centre for Implementation Science, King’s College London

Professor Nick Sevdalis

Academic Director, Centre for Behavioural and Implementation Science Interventions, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Funding acknowledgement

This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration South London (NIHR ARC South London) at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and King’s Improvement Science. King’s Improvement Science is funded by King’s Health Partners and the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Related content

Source: ImpResPAC tool document — NIHR ARC South London / Centre for Implementation Science, King’s College London. Archived May 2026.