Resources for Current Grantees

This page contains resources for current PSR research grantees. We highly encourage PSR researchers to visit this page for information on writing and submitting research reports, accessing PSR research report/ brief templates, requesting no-cost extensions, and more. For any inquiries or concerns not adressed on this page, please contact METRANS Associate Director of Administration, Jennifer Hong, or METRANS Administrator, Madeline Martell. 

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Writing and Submitting Final Reports

In accepting funding from PSR, all PIs agree to produce a final deliverable based on the established project scope and deliverables, which summarizes the findings and/or technology transfer activities. PIs are also required to make the data used to produce the final deliverable publicly accessible as outlined in the USDOT Public Access Plan.

For most research projects, the final deliverable will consist of a final report or comparable product. The final report should document the research in total, including a complete description of the problem, objectives, approach, methodology, findings, conclusions, recommendations, etc. It should also document all data gathered, analyses performed, and results achieved.

Please use the PSR report template when generating your report. The template is intended to provide you with guidelines in terms of content, formatting, and style. It also includes cover page specifications, data archiving documentation, and other essential information. The use of photographs, graphs, charts, and other visuals is highly encouraged to further enrich reports and other associated deliverables.

To view and download the PSR final report template, click here.

A draft final report must be submitted to METRANS Administrator, Madeline Martell, for review and comment 30 days prior to the official end date of the project. Once the draft final report is received, the report is processed as follows:

1. Peer review. PIs will be asked to identify potential peer reviewers for their report. PSR staff will send the draft report/paper to up to three peer reviewers. Research reports are reviewed by external academics; white papers are reviewed by policymakers and/or practitioners.
2. Copy-editing. Following peer review, if it is needed, a copy-editor will review the report/paper to ensure standard formatting requirements are met and edits for clarity, consistency, and accuracy. If peer review feedback is minimal, copy-editing will take place immediately following. If peer review feedback is extensive, the PI will be asked to address peer reviewer feedback prior to copy-editing.
   
   
3. Revisions by PI. PIs are expected to submit the finalized report within 30 days from receiving the copy-edited report/paper.
   
   
4. Final formatting by PSR staff. Although we ask PIs/authors to use the NCST's report template, we have a keen eye for formatting, so we'll do a final polish of your report before publication. We also assign a DOI and other metadata to the report/paper at this time.
   
   
5. Publication of report. The final report/paper will be published under the PSR UTC collection on the Repository & Open Sciences Access Portal (ROSA P). The report will also be added to the PSR website. METRANS staff will generate a unique permalink URL for each publication, which will not change, even if new versions of the document are uploaded. 

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Research Brief Guidelines and Template

All PSR research projects, and many white paper grants, are required to submit a two-page Research Brief to accompany their final deliverable. The brief should summarize key findings and any policy/practice implications from the project.

To view and download the PSR research brief template, click here.

Research briefs are to be submitted to METRANS Administrator, Madeline Martell.

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ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID)

All PSR researchers must have a unique ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) identification. ORCID.org provides a registry of persistent unique identifiers for researchers and scholars, and automates linkages to research objects such as publications, grants, and patents. Registration is free and takes less than 5 minutes. If other researchers are added to a project after its initiation, they are also required to obtain an ORCID. 

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