Research Proposal Submission Process

1. Review the Investigator's Guide to NCDR Research.
2. Review the NCDR Research Calendar for submission guidelines.
   
   The NCDR currently offers one annual proposal deadline. The proposal deadline is February 7, 2025. Under this process, all RPAs will be reviewed at the same time receiving the same level of consideration for priority. This will allow research proposals to be approved, analyzed, and produce a manuscript within one calendar year. In addition, the new process will enable NCDR to implement a new strategic manuscript process and allow data analytic centers to better plan and budget for research proposals.
3. Choose the appropriate registry.
   • Data analysis from NCDR's eight hospital-based registries and two outpatient registries is available for research. Review registry data collection forms to confirm that the registry collects the data needed for your proposal.
4. Determine if the NCDR 'Rule of Two' applies to you.
   • A primary author may not have more than two active proposals across all NCDR registries at one time in the NCDR R&P pipeline. An active proposal is one that has been submitted to NCDR for R&P Committee review but has not resulted in publication of a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal.
5. Ensure your research proposal idea has no overlap with in-progress or published work.
   • Lists of published and unpublished projects are found on the Published Research page.
6. Request an NCDR Mentor to assist throughout the NCDR research submission process.
   • To provide investigators of all experience level the opportunity to put the best research proposal forward for consideration ensuring equal opportunity for funding, the ACC has developed the NCDR Mentorship Program.
   • Upon request, the NCDR will match you to a subject matter expert from the NCDR Research & Publications Subcommittee to act as a mentor. As a mentor they will provide guidance to navigating the research drafting and submission process as well as journal submission process if funded.
   • To request a mentor email, ncdrresearch@acc.org, subject line 'Mentor Request'.
7. Is your proposal is for the PINNACLE Registry?
   • Review PINNACLE Registry Data Completeness information. Because the PINNACLE Registry database is comprised of relevant registry data fields extracted from electronic health records, data completeness can vary depending on the data element.
8. Review this article to better understand NCDR's data quality.
   • The National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) Data Quality Brief: The NCDR Data Quality Program in 2012, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology
9. Determine which funding source you will select on your RPA.
   • All NCDR research studies must adhere to the same oversight processes regardless of funding source for the research activities; therefore, obtaining funding does not automatically guarantee NCDR will approve the research study. Funding goes towards the cost of data analytics, which includes the analysis for a manuscript and an abstract. Analytics must be conducted at a NCDR-designated data analytic center. The NCDR does not send datasets to individual investigators or organizations.

• Select NCDR Funding:
  If you are a researcher with no financial support by  grant, industry, institution, or independent funding should select "NCDR funding" on the RPA form (most common funding source).
• Select External Funding:
  For AFib Ablation Registry, CathPCI Registry, Chest Pain – MI Registry, EP Device Implant Registry, IMPACT Registry, LAAO Registry, PVI Registry and STS/ACC TVT Registry data: If you have grant, institution, industry, analytic center or another external source of funding, please complete the preliminary proposal for non-NCDR funded research form. and email it to ncdrresearch@acc.org before preparing a proposal. These proposals may be submitted at any time and are not subject to deadlines. Investigators are encouraged to contact the NCDR early in the funding exploration phase.

For PINNACLE Registry or Diabetes Registry data: If you have grant, institution, industry, analytic center or another external source of funding, please fill out the preliminary proposal for PINNACLE & Diabetes Registry non-NCDR funded research and email it to ncdrresearch@acc.org before preparing a proposal.