Secrets of successful short grant applications

The National Institutes of Health has implemented new grant application guidelines that include a substantial reduction in the number of pages allowed for project descriptions. Shorter proposals will potentially decrease reviewer burden, but investigators may find the new page limits challenging. Writing more concisely while still presenting a persuasive argument requires honing certain skills with regard to preparation, construction, and editing of proposals. This article provides strategies from the Western Journal of Nursing Research editorial board for preparing competitive shorter research proposals. Two key strategies for success are fully conceptualizing the study prior to writing and obtaining assistance from experienced colleagues during the editing process.