COMSEP Survey and Scholarship Committee

• Oversight of survey submissions, selection, editing, and data collection processes; developing a survey nonrespondent contact strategy; preparing de-identified datasets and summary results for distribution to section leads and authors. Provide a draft survey methods section to contributing authors after the summary results have been reported.
• Ensure data integrity and confidentiality of responses, as well as file version control and best practices for data cleaning and data management. Survey data master files will be housed by COMSEP to secure storage and long-term archiving.

Survey Committee "liaison leaders" will meet with each section authors (“thematic section leads”) at least every 6 months for project status.  Because of the time-sensitive nature for publishing survey data, ability to publish may diminish as time passes from original survey distribution.

The COMSEP Survey and Scholarship Committee (CSSC) are available to assist authors with manuscript preparation, to answer questions about the data, or to address other questions pertaining to survey findings or interpretation. The CSSC along with Degnon staff will prepare appropriate electronic files for COMSEP Survey datasets such as codebooks and de-identified datasets in a file format suitable for authors. The Committee encourages survey writing teams to consider at an early stage whether they will require data analysis support. 

The tentative timeline for 2027 COMSEP Annual Survey (revised from previous years):

• Submissions for questions open: April 2027
• Submissions due: June 1, 2027
• Members notified: June 22, 2027
• Revisions due (based on committee review): July 12, 2027
• Revisions due (based on pilot testing): September 2, 2027
• Survey opens: September 22, 2027
• Survey closes: November 10, 2027

Guidelines for Submission:

1. The number of questions submitted from an individual member/team should be limited to the lowest number needed to appropriately investigate the research question. The maximum number of questions should not exceed 15-20.
2. The amount of time to complete the questions accurately should be considered. Lengthy or difficult to interpret questions can lead to lower survey completion rates, endangering success with data dissemination.
3. Topics covered in each survey will be listed annually in the member section of COMSEP website.
4. Topics will not be repeated on the annual survey unless:
   1. 1. Significantly different questions are asked about the subject
      2. Three years have passed since the topic was included
5. If there is significant overlap of questions submitted by members, the survey committee may suggest members
   to collaborate and resubmit questions. 

For additional helpful resources/tips/important considerations for creating high yield survey questions,
visit: Developing questionnaires for educational research: AMEE Guide

Please also review the Survey Authorship Guidelines located under the next tab...

Survey Development
The COMSEP Annual Survey undergoes a rigorous process of editing, pretesting, and pilot-testing to maximize content validity.  A primary goal of the Survey and Scholarship Committee is to assist COMSEP members in achieving educational scholarship through the content that they submit for inclusion in the Annual Survey.

If your items (sections) are accepted for inclusion in the Annual Survey, a subgroup of Survey and Scholarship Committee members (“committee liaisons”) will be assigned to assist with further development of and revisions to your section. This will require prompt responses from the authors of those sections/themes (“thematic section leads”) to requests for revisions during survey development. The Survey and Scholarship Committee also will assist with reviews of content to ensure that best practices for survey methodology are adhered to.

Data Delivery and Manuscript Timeline
COMSEP survey data collection is managed by the committee and COMSEP staff, who will provide a report including survey section summary results for authors about one month after survey closure. 

Typically, the COMSEP Survey and Scholarship Committee will provide a draft survey methods section (to be modified accordingly by authors) for inclusion in a scholarly work. Thematic section leads will work with their liaisons to modify it for the article.

It is the goal of the committee to publish the data from each section of the Annual Survey in a timely manner. Primary authors are expected to produce a draft manuscript within twelve months of receiving their de-identified dataset from the Annual Survey. Committee Liaisons can assist in providing appropriate journal selection for successful publication.

Authorship of Committee Liaisons
Based on the guidance provided by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) on authorship, the Survey and Scholarship Committee liaisons would meet criteria for authorship based on their contributions to design and acquisition of data should they be involved in 1) subsequent drafting and/or revising of the manuscript; and 2) final approval of the manuscript for publication.

Occasionally, additional committee members who have contributed substantially to specific sections may also be designated for authorship by the Survey and Scholarship Committee leaders.

The thematic section leads will determine if the liaison meets these criteria. If the thematic section leads and liaison do not agree on authorship, the full Survey and Scholarship Committee will meet with both parties to determine next steps.

Authors who submit question sections will be required to acknowledge these guidelines.

A list of past survey topics can be found here.