Expert Research Consultant Services
Are you undertaking research and seeking a consultant to support your project? Looking for support with study design, ethics processes, data analysis or publication? Our experienced research consultants can help support you with your research project to ensure excellent, ethical, publishable research. Reach out today for an initial free consultation.
Hear From the Research Director
OVERVIEW
What is Research Consultancy?
Research consultancy is the provision of research and consulting services to support with research, service evaluation and audit projects. It involves enlisting an external, experienced research to provide specific guidance and oversight on the design and conduct of your study. Having a research consultant input into your project ensures it is compliant with ethical, methodological and publication standards. A research consultant can help with any or all of the following parts of your research projects depending on your needs:
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Finding the right research question
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Reviewing and synthesising previous research
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Identifying hypotheses to test based on prior research
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Choosing appropriate psychometric measures
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Creating interview questions
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Selecting a recruitment strategy
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Applying for and gaining ethical approval, or considering whether it is needed apply for ethical approval
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Data collection including support with interviewing
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Data management including data cleaning and GDPR compliance
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Data analysis support, oversight and involvement
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Writing up for publication
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Support with the publication process
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Peer review
Our Research and Consulting Services
We can support projects using human participants in the healthcare and social sciences fields. We have expertise in sensitive topics, including mental health, neurodiversity, therapy and clinical services. Our research consultants can support:
Psychology research projects
Mental health and neurodiversity research
Service evaluation projects
Research in psychological therapy, including process and outcomes
Audit projects
LGBTQ+, transgender and intersectional studies
Qualitative methodologies, including thematic analysis, IPA and grounded theory
Systematic reviews and critical literature reviews
Who is this for
We can provide research consultancy for projects inside and outside of academic structures, as we bring expertise of academic standards, ethical processes and publication standards. We also consult for students at BSc, MSc, PhD, DClinPsy and DCounsPsy level as an external consultant, provided your research team has agreed. Unlike research supervision, research consultancy is task-focused rather than developmentally-focused.
Students (BSc, MSc, PhD, doctorate)
Businesses and organisations engaging in research and development with human participants or needing literature reviews
Independent and individual researchers
Clinicians and healthcare professionals completing research, service evaluations and audits in need of supervision
Research teams needing external consultancy
Our research consultancy services are suitable for:
What’s included and approach
Our research consultants take a flexible, personalised approach to consulting. We will first outline clear terms and a contract outlining your needs and exactly what we will be consulting on and doing. We will agree timelines and tasks, such as when analyses, feedback or publications will be submitted. Our research consultancy services can be limited, one-off and ad-hoc, or project-long and inclusive from inception to publication, depending on what you need. We have a track record of successful academic publication of various projects in numerous sectors and are always happy to support with publishing research.
Format and costs
Our research consultation services are available online across the whole of the UK and internationally. We can also travel for in-person tasks as required. We can charge per hour (£150 inclusive of prep) or on a project-basis depending on your needs. Enquire with us today for a personalised, transparent quote.
Process for research consultancy
Our process involves an initial enquiry using the form below, after which we will contact you to discuss your project, needs and how we can help. If we both agree to go ahead, we will initially produce a clear contract which agrees what we will do for you, when and for how long we will support you. We will then meet at the agreed frequency and provide the agreed tasks to support your project, be that direct involvement in project delivery, oversight, writing support or design support. We regularly seek feedback to ensure our consulting services are responsive and helpful.
FAQS
Frequently Asked Questions
Research & Publications
Publications Library
See our published research below.
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2026
2023
2024
Inpatient staff experiences of providing treatment for males with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder: A thematic analysis
Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
We interviewed inpatient nursing staff about how they perceive men with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, and how it shaped their care.
2024
2024
"I got given all these keys": a photovoice study examining master and alternative narratives and nonbinary identity formation in London's queer communities
International Journal of Transgender Health
We explored how nonbinary people's identity is shaped by societal norms and ideas, and how they navigate this.
Our Team
Meet the Experts
Dr. Alastair Pipkin
Lead Clinical Psychologist
DClinPsy, HCPC Registered, AFHEA, Dip. Strategic Management and Leadersip
Dr. Pipkin is a registered clinical psychologist, fully accredited cognitive behavioural therapist with the BABCP, an associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a registered specialist in the field of gender dysphoria with the UK Equalities Office.
He leads Unlock Psychology Ltd, overseeing the clinical, academic and research services provided. Dr. Pipkin provides diagnostic assessments, academic and research services.
He is an experienced diagnostic assessor of autism, ADHD, gender dysphoria and the range of mental health difficulties. He is also an experienced academic, published researcher and experienced consultant and supervisor for students up to doctorate level. He has led both clinical and academic teams, supervising pre-qualified and qualified practitioner psychologists, masters and doctoral research projects, and overseeing university academic programmes and research teams.
He offers clinical and research supervision, diagnostic assessments, conducts research and leads the academic programmes offered by Unlock Psychology.
"Alastair was structured, knowledgeable, thorough and generous in sharing his expertise and knowledge with regards to assessing ADHD. I have found the training thoroughly enjoyable and interesting, and I feel much closer to being prepared to begin assessments already."
"You’re the first supervisor who’s explained things in a way that has really clicked for me. Your feedback is so clear, practical, and easy to follow that I finally feel like I understand exactly what needs to be done and why. It’s genuinely taken a huge weight off my shoulders. Your knowledge is second to none, and you are absolutely worth every penny. I honestly wish I’d found you sooner! I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with you and getting the thesis over the finish line. I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your help so far! It really is appreciated more than you know."
"Alastair is a great teacher and explains things very well then checking back we all are clear and understand and if we have any questions. I am looking to complete a lower level counselling course but then complete a coaching qualification and if there were any courses related to this or they were offered by Alastair / Unlock Psychology I would definitely complete here."
"I really enjoyed today, Alastair is a great lecturer who kept me awake and engaged all day! The regular breaks are extremely helpful in maintaining engagement and motivation. There is a good balance of talking and activities and i feel the information provided was extremely clear and structured well."
TESTIMONIALS
What Our Clients Say
5
average rating from 30+ Google reviews
Ready to Discuss Your Research?
Use the enquiry form below and we will be in touch to explore how research consultancy could support your project.