A review of the ex ante evaluation of research proposals is structured in the wider context of research management. Five functions of research management are identified; initiation, evaluation, selection, implementation and control, and dissemination. After considering the relative weights given to these functions In the. literature, it is concluded that the past emphasis on selection should, for agricultural research, give way to more on evaluation. A review of the literature indicates that ex ante evaluation of research is feasible, whether using simple expected value or more costly and complex probabilistic models. The cost of evaluation should be balanced against investment in both the other research functions and the proposals themselves.