The OMERACT Research Process

Currently, an initiative starts as a Special Interest Group.  A small group of experts initiates the research agenda by literature reviews and validation studies. At the conference, in informal discussions, the research agenda is prioritized and tasks are distributed among interested parties. The next step is a Workshop; where studies are presented that help the formulation and selection of the domains. Again, agreement is reached on priorities in research to be performed. The final step is the Module in which evidence (both from literature and from targeted studies) is presented, and final selection of measures can take place. Both in Workshops and in Modules, plenary presentations are complemented by small group sessions where participants express their views and preferences.

These views are brought back to the plenary session, where a final consensus is formulated with the help of interactive voting using electronic touchpads. In Modules, consensus implies agreement on domains or measures; and in Workshops it means the formulation of a research agenda in areas where data-driven decisions cannot be made. The process is iterative, in that guidelines are forever "preliminary" based on the assumption that future data (sometimes a direct result of the research agenda) will serve to refine or modify them. The work needed to justify a module with voting can be fast tracked and achieved within 12 months if there is sufficient existing data on the performance of the instruments measuring the selected attributes.  The new staging of starting with SIGs, with criteria for moving to a Workshop, and the additional requirements to warrant a Module, all reflect the expectation that the process can take up to 6 years or more – this is has been the case with outcomes for adverse effects which has been a focus at every OMERACT meeting since the second OMERACT in 1994.

Please email the OMERACT Secreariat if you would like to become involved in any of the OMERACT Research Groups