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In clinical research, direct costs refer to expenses that can be directly attributed to a specific study or project. Study personnel labor is considered a direct cost because it includes the wages and salaries of staff who are directly involved in conducting the study, such as investigators, research coordinators, and data managers. These costs are essential for the execution of the study, as they are necessary for tasks such as participant recruitment, data collection, and monitoring.

Direct costs contrast with indirect costs, which are not easily attributed to a particular study. Support services expenses, research unit infrastructure, and institutional policy expenses may contribute to the overall research environment but do not represent direct costs that can be traced specifically to individual research activities. Such costs are often considered overhead or general operational costs. Their allocation to a specific study may be part of the budgeting process but does not fall under the category of direct costs associated with executing the study itself.