From the archive: Sweetening social research proposals

Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Katharine Knox explains how to prepare a tasty treat for reviewers

Funding schemes may come and go but the rules for writing a good grant are mostly hardy perennials. Four years ago, Katharine Knox, policy and research manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, produced this thorough overview of what researchers should do—and should avoid doing—to ensure their bids get the full attention of the foundation’s reviewers. Even though Knox was writing for applicants to JRF schemes, who will mostly be social scientists, her pointers all focus on the essentials of good grant-writing and as such will be relevant to those from other disciplines applying to other funders.