Welcome to the NIHR press office for media enquiries and information for press officers preparing media relations for NIHR research.
The NIHR press office promotes new research in health and social care and helps journalists who are looking for expert comment or are interested in finding out more about research in this area.
For NIHR researchers, we offer support and advice when interacting with the media and guidance on communicating work during the scientific publishing process.
You can contact the NIHR press office via email or phone from 9am-5pm Monday-Friday.
Email: pressoffice@nihr.ac.uk
Phone: 020 3328 6730
Not a journalist? Have a look at our contacts page to find out where to direct your enquiry.
This information is for press officers writing press releases or planning media activity on research funded or supported by the NIHR.
Please contact the comms team in the relevant NIHR coordinating centre if you have any further questions about NIHR press releases, or refer to our contacts directory for other enquiries.
If you’re a researcher, please refer to our research outputs and publications guidance.
It is critically important that the NIHR is made aware in advance of any intention to publicise NIHR funded or supported research, including issuing press releases or media statements on research findings. Where researchers or organisations hold a contract with the NIHR, advance notification is a contractual obligation for media activity announcing findings of research funded or supported by the NIHR.
This process allows the NIHR to notify ministers and the policy and media teams at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about any upcoming media activity. It also gives the NIHR press office team time to prepare for any publicity and, where appropriate and possible, support the activity, for example, by seeking quotes from DHSC or NIHR spokespeople.
Media activity that should be notified to the NIHR includes:
Best practice is to give the NIHR at least 28 days’ notice of an intention to issue a press release or plan any media activity.
Please get in touch with the comms team in the relevant NIHR coordinating centre as soon as you and the research team have decided to issue a press release or prepare for media activity. Please supply a copy of the research paper/report, where appropriate.
Once the press release or media materials have been prepared, please send a draft to the relevant coordinating centre 14 days before the planned issue date. The coordinating centre will review the press release and share it with the relevant staff at the NIHR and DHSC. All embargoes and confidentiality requirements will be respected by the NIHR and DHSC.
Press releases must acknowledge NIHR funding or support for the research by naming and linking to the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), ideally in the first or second paragraph of the body of the press release.
NIHR funded: If the research has been directly funded by an NIHR research programme, such as the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme, or a research school, unit or group, the press release should state that the research has been funded by the NIHR.
Examples:
NIHR supported: If the research is from part of the NIHR infrastructure, such as an NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, or researchers have worked with an NIHR Local Clinical Research Network, the press release should state that the research has been supported by the NIHR or made possible by the NIHR.
Examples:
We encourage you to use the following descriptor with the NIHR acknowledgement:
...the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the nation's largest funder of health and care research.
Please include the following NIHR boilerplate in the notes to editors section of your press release:
STARTS
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:
The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR supports applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, using UK aid from the UK government.
ENDS
You may also wish to include in the notes to editors additional information about the specific programme, training scheme, network or part of the NIHR that the press release relates to.
The NIHR recognises and values the role of patient data, both in underpinning and leading to improvements in research and care.
Examples of types of patient data used in research include:
We ask researchers who use patient data to acknowledge it by incorporating a data citation, developed by use MY data, in publications and stories that would not have been possible without access to this data. This expectation also extends to press releases on such research.
Please use the following patient data citation after the NIHR boilerplate in your press releases:
STARTS
This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support and would not have been possible without access to this data. The NIHR recognises and values the role of patient data, securely accessed and stored, both in underpinning and leading to improvements in research and care. www.nihr.ac.uk/patientdata
ENDS
Please use this citation in all press releases, unless you feel that the research does not use patient data in any form.
The NIHR logo should not be used in press releases issued by a researcher, research team, or private company. Such press releases should use the researchers’ host institution’s logotype.
Only press release issued by the NIHR’s Press Office or an NIHR Coordinating Centre may use the NIHR logo.
If you have any questions, please contact: pressoffice@nihr.ac.uk.