Granting Academic Research Requests to Use PRSA Membership Lists

Application: Academic Research Request to Use PRSA Membership List

PRSA is committed to advancing thought leadership in the profession.  Fostering quality research conducted by scholars and practitioners that will advance the theory and practice of public relations is critical to achieving this goal. Research projects often call for surveys of public relations practitioners. The following provides details on the policies and procedures for gaining access to PRSA member email lists.

Research proposals will be evaluated quarterly by a committee of experienced professionals in academic research, overseen by the Research Committee Chair. Permissions to use PRSA member email lists will be granted only to those proposals whose quality would be equivalent to those to be published in the Public Relations Journal. The review process for using PRSA mailing lists will be rigorous, but will not be a blind review.

Procedures and Guidelines

• Requests will be accepted throughout the year but will be held until the appropriate submission deadline as detailed below.  Four review periods each year will be designated for the approval/denial of research proposals for use of the PRSA membership list.  Deadlines for submissions are as follows:
  
  • December 15 (for submissions to be reviewed by January 15)
  • March 15 (for submissions to be reviewed by April 15)
  • June 15 (for submissions to be reviewed by July 15)
  • October 15 (for submissions to be reviewed by November 15) 
• Requests must include the following five items, or they will not be reviewed:
  
  • a completed application form;
  • an Institutional Research Board (IRB) approval certificate from the individual’s university IRB, or a signed document indicating why IRB approval has not been obtained;
  • a 3-5 page project description written clearly and concisely;
  • a copy of the proposed survey instrument; and
  • a copy of the proposed online survey invitation email.
• Members of the Research Task Force will evaluate submissions and approve or deny requests. 
• Approved requests will be sent to the PRSA Board Liaison for the Research Task Force for comment for 15 days after the review process. If no comments are received within that period, the request will be approved. 
• PRSA staff will work with researchers of approved projects to pull appropriate samples of members email addresses. Electronic communication will be sent to members from PRSA including a link to the survey instrument provided by the researcher. The cover note will indicate that PRSA has reviewed the research.
• Researchers will have one calendar year for project completion from the date of approval.  "Completed" means submitting a research manuscript to the PRJ. There is no guarantee that the paper will be accepted for publication in PRJ, but the journal retains the right of first refusal.

Criteria for approval

• A complete research proposal request as outlined above.
• Relevance/importance to advancing thought leadership initiatives of PRSA and the public relations profession specifically looking at issues highlighted in PRSA’s Strategic Plan and/or Advocacy Agenda.
• Appropriateness of the survey instrument for the sample requested.
• Consideration of the timing of other approved and similar research.
• Membership in PRSA: at least one member of the research team MUST be a member in good standing of PRSA.
• Overall clarity and quality of the written request materials.

Approved by PRSA Board of Directors, December 2010.