Defining the Components of the Research Pipeline
Open accessAbstract
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proposed that research moves from “bench to bedside” through a Pipeline consisting of distinct research categories bridged by bidirectional translation. The original NIH Pipeline has now been expanded to include practice‐ and community‐based research. We developed operational definitions for the elements along the expanded NIH Pipeline. The proposed definitions were pilot‐tested and refined using the Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects (CRISP) and the Secure Internet‐Linked Web Technologies (SILK) database containing funding information for individual NIH awards. Using our definitions, two reviewers independently agreed on the categorization of 94% of 866 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)‐funded projects, and 99% of projects could be placed into a single research category.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The research pipeline contains many effective programs and treatments in a backlog, waiting to be implemented.
“The research ‘pipeline’ [28-30] contains many effective programs and treatments in a backlog, waiting to be implemented.”
From Writing implementation research grant proposals: ten key ingredients (2012) · cites this paper as [30]
Cites
Practice-based research--“Blue Highways” on the NIH roadmap
Westfall, J. M., Mold, J., & Fagnan, L. (2007) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.297.4.403 · Cited by 1,209 · see citing works
Self-citationImaging Studies for Low Back Pain
Clearingh, N. Q. M., & Agency for Healthcare Research and (2008) · Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy · doi:10.1080/15360280802537332 · Cited by 653 · see citing works
DEFINITIONS OF COMMON TERMS RELEVANT TO PRIMARY CARE RESEARCH
Mold, J. W., Pasternak, A., McCaulay, A., Manca, D. P., Rubin, G. P., Westfall, J., Beasley, J., Hickner, J., Fagnan, L. J., Handley, M. A., et al. (2008) · The Annals of Family Medicine · doi:10.1370/afm.932 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Proctor, E., Luke, D., Calhoun, A., McMillen, C., Brownson, R., McCrary, S., & Padek, M. (2015) · Implementation Science · doi:10.1186/s13012-015-0274-5 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
Mapping the evolving definitions of translational research
Fort, D. G., Herr, T. M., Shaw, P. L., Gutzman, K. E., & Starren, J. B. (2017) · Journal of Clinical and Translational Science · doi:10.1017/cts.2016.10 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Writing implementation research grant proposals: ten key ingredients
Proctor, E. K., Powell, B. J., Baumann, A. A., Hamilton, A. M., & Santens, R. L. (2012) · Implementation Science · doi:10.1186/1748-5908-7-96 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Introducing a New Intervention: An Overview of Research Phases and Common Challenges
Gitlin, L. N. (2013) · American Journal of Occupational Therapy · doi:10.5014/ajot.2013.006742 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Survey of Community Engagement in NIH‐Funded Research
Hood, N., Brewer, T., Jackson, R. D., & Wewers, M. E. (2010) · Clinical and Translational Science · doi:10.1111/j.1752-8062.2010.00179.x · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Kemp, C. G., Wagenaar, B. H., & Haroz, E. E. (2019) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2019.00325 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Fonseca, B. D. P. F. E., Albuquerque, P. C., & Zicker, F. (2020) · Tropical Medicine & International Health · doi:10.1111/tmi.13478 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
A feasibility study of an unsupervised, pre‐operative exercise program for adults with lung cancer
Finley, D. J., Fay, K. A., Batsis, J. A., Stevens, C. J., Sacks, O. A., Darabos, C., Cook, S. B., & Lyons, K. D. (2020) · European Journal of Cancer Care · doi:10.1111/ecc.13254 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Leake, H. B., Mardon, A. K., Stanton, T. R., Harvie, D. S., Butler, D. S., Karran, E. L., Wilson, D., Booth, J., Barker, T., Wood, P., et al. (2022) · Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2022.07.008 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Embracing Implementation Science: A Paradigm Shift for Nursing Research
Zullig, L. L., Deschodt, M., & Geest, S. D. (2019) · Journal of Nursing Scholarship · doi:10.1111/jnu.12507 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Loucaides, E., Fitchett, E. J. A., Sullivan, R. J., & Atun, R. A. (2019) · The Lancet Oncology · doi:10.1016/s1470-2045(19)30662-x · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Dissemination and Implementation Research
Proctor, E. K. (2014) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.900 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Scientific Impact: Opportunity and Necessity
Cohen, M. Z., Alexander, G. L., Wyman, J. F., Fahrenwald, N. L., Porock, D. C., Wurzbach, M. E., Rawl, S. M., & Conn, V. S. (2010) · Western Journal of Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/0193945910365328 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Hale, L. A., Mayland, E. C., Jenkins, M., Buttery, Y., Norris, P., Butler, M., Holland, M., Ngocha-Chaderopa, N. E., McKenzie‐Green, B., Czuba, K., et al. (2019) · The Gerontologist · doi:10.1093/geront/gnz151 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Dworkin, A. M., Reffey, S. B., & Wojtanik, K. (2022) · Clinical and Translational Science · doi:10.1111/cts.13346 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Physician Judgment and Clinical Practice Guidelines
Hamm, R. M., & Nagykaldi, Z. J. (2018) · Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making · doi:10.1177/1555343418782850 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Zimmermann, K., Khare, M. M., Koch, A. R., Wright, C., & GELLER, S. E. (2014) · Clinical and Translational Science · doi:10.1111/cts.12239 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Systems Science Methods in Dissemination and Implementation Research
Luke, D. A., Morshed, A. B., McKay, V. R., & Combs, T. (2023) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197660690.003.0013 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
A reduction in large animal research threatens the perinatal translation research pipeline
Allison, B. J., Hooper, S. B., Gunn, A. J., Bennet, L., Molloy, E. J., Robertson, N. J., Polglase, G. R., & Miller, S. (2025) · Pediatric Research · doi:10.1038/s41390-025-04686-7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Lane-Petter’s Pipeline: Why reliably decreasing animal research takes more than replacements
Müller, N. D. (2026) · European Journal for Philosophy of Science · doi:10.1007/s13194-025-00715-8 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Godecke, E., Brogan, E., Palmer, R., Brady, M., Becker, F., Breitenstein, C., Brownsett, S. L. E., Fridriksson, J., Hilari, K., Hillis, A. E., et al. (2026) · Aphasiology · doi:10.1080/02687038.2026.2693093 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Building up a research pipeline in gastroenterology
Mulder, C. J. J., Bouma, G., der Merwe, V., & Kassem, A. M. (2011) · Arab Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.1016/j.ajg.2010.12.002
Developmental Care of Premature Newborns: A Success Story from Evidence-based Research
Missi, P. M., Dallaire, C., & Hardy, M. (2022) · American Journal of Nursing Science · doi:10.11648/j.ajns.20221101.14
Sansone, S., & Chughtai, B. I. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-90186-4.00021-3
Roberts, S., Brocklehurst, C., Northover, H., Chipungu, J., Ashinyo, M. E., & Dreibelbis, R. (2025) · PLOS Water · doi:10.1371/journal.pwat.0000448
The lifecycle of interventions
Gitlin, L. N., & Czaja, S. J. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-21664-0.00032-5
- Authors
- Kleinman, M. S., & Mold, J. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (US)
- Venue
- Clinical and Translational Science
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-08
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 312-314
- ISSN
- 1752-8054 (ISSN-L)
- 1752-8062
- PMC
- PMC5407485
- OpenAlex
- W2063910046
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Clinical and Translational Science (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health and Medical Research Impacts
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Research, Science, and Academia
- Keywords
- bench-to-bedside translation, bidirectional translation, operational definitions, research categorization, practice-based research, community-based research, interobserver agreement
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Clinical Trials as Topic, Financing, Government, Humans, National Institutes of Health (U.S.), Research Design, Research Support as Topic, United States, Databases, Factual, Translational Research, Biomedical
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
