The OBSSR recognizes the importance of scientific stewardship, particularly in developing the scientific talent and skills needed to advance health-related behavioral and social sciences. With our NIH Institute and Center partners, the OBSSR supports a number of in-person training efforts.
The Clinical Trials Protocol Template for the Behavioral and Social Sciences is a resource for communicating the science, methods, and operations of a clinical trial. This template is a suggested format for clinical trials that are testing a behavioral or social intervention or experimental manipulation. Use of the protocol template is encouraged but not required.
Overview
The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) developed a standard definition of behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR) to reliably monitor the BSSR that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducts or supports. The definition was developed in 1996 and revised in 2019 with input from the BSSR community.
TIDIRH Update: As of 2020, OBSSR is no longer coordinating the Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) program.
eSource is a collection of online chapters that provide an introduction to selected behavioral and social science research approaches, including theory development and testing, survey methods, measurement, and study design. eSource was developed for OBSSR around 2010 by the New England Research Institute (NERI) with contributions from topic experts. These chapters have not been updated to reflect advances in the past decade, and the exercises are not interactive in PDF format, but OBSSR continues to make these chapters available online for those who wish to use them as supplemen
Distinguished Lecturer: David Mechanic, Ph.D.
Renè Dubos University Professor, Emeritus
The journal articles listed are those for which OBSSR provided financial and/or staff support to develop, or are key government articles related to behavioral and social sciences.
In 2016, NIH issued a policy establishing an expectation that all NIH-funded investigators and staff involved in conducting, overseeing, or managing clinical trials should be trained in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and should refresh their training at least every three years.
