What does an 'audit trail' in research provide?

An audit trail in research provides a detailed record of transactions related to funding. This record is crucial for ensuring transparency and accountability in the handling of research funds. It allows for thorough tracking of how funds are allocated, spent, and monitored throughout the research project lifecycle.

This detailed documentation serves multiple purposes, such as verifying compliance with financial regulations, facilitating audits by funding agencies, and providing insights into the financial management of a research project. It also helps in maintaining integrity within the research process by allowing researchers and funders to trace any financial activity back to its source, thereby ensuring that all expenditures are justified and documented.

While participant feedback and outcomes, team performance, and productivity metrics are valuable aspects of research management, they do not constitute an audit trail in the context of financial transactions. Similarly, comparisons of budget estimates with actual expenses are important for financial oversight but do not represent the broad and detailed nature of the audit trail.