Submitting and Validating Your Electronic Application

Questions and Answers Table of Contents

Submitting to Grants.gov

After the Application Moves to the eRA Commons

Submitting to Grants.gov

Can I mail NIH my SF 424 instead of submitting electronically?

No. NIH will not accept a paper SF 424. Your authorized organizational representative must submit it electronically to Grants.gov.

How do I submit my application to Grants.gov?

Grants.gov must successfully receive your application on the due date by 5:00 p.m. your institution's local time on the due date. Follow these steps:

• Make sure the Grant Application Package is final. See What are the final steps before submission?
• Only your business official for Grants.gov -- called an authorized organizational representative (AOR) -- can submit the application.
• Your AOR logs in to Grants.gov, then clicks "Submit" in your application package. Corrected applications follow the same process.
• The AOR should print a copy of the confirmation screen as a record.

What is the Grants.gov tracking number?

After your authorized organizational representative (AOR) gets confirmation of a successful submission, Grants.gov will send the AOR and the principal investigator a tracking number, e.g., GRANT12345678.

Each email Grants.gov sends you will include that number, and your AOR can use it to track your application's status. You will also need the tracking number if you need to call Grants.gov Customer Support.

What is Grants.gov validation?

Grants.gov does a basic data check. Later the eRA Commons will check your application more thoroughly to see if it complies with NIH business rules.

If Grants.gov finds an error, it sends your authorized organizational representative an email that it rejected your application, and you need to correct the problem so your AOR can resubmit. Don't rely on this validation email. Your AOR can see the results by logging into Grants.gov.

For more information, go to About Validations and First Step: Grants.gov Validation in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

How and when will I hear back from Grants.gov?

Grants.gov emails the outcome of your submission to your authorized organizational representative. This may take only an hour, but may take up to two business days. If you don't have your results by then, contact Grants.gov Customer Support.

For a list of email notifications from Grants.gov and Commons, see the Chart of Email Notifications.

What happens to my application after it passes Grants.gov validation?

After Grants.gov validation, it transfers automatically to the Commons for NIH validation. See Next Step: eRA Commons Validation in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

Can I send my electronic application late to Grants.gov?

NIH accepts late applications under rare circumstances. See questions and answers in Corrected or Late Electronic Applications and Rules for Late Applications.

How do I submit a video or other material that cannot be sent electronically?

Call your assigned scientific review officer, who will let you know where to send supplemental materials. Also see May I send supplementary or missing materials after a receipt date? in the General Application Information questions and answers.

Where can I find help for Grants.gov or for PureEdge?

Go to Grants.gov Customer Support.

After the Application Moves to the eRA Commons

What does Commons validate?

Checking for NIH business rules, the Commons performs a more in-depth validation than Grants.gov does. Commons validation can take from a few hours to two business days.

Here are some resources:

• For all the data, go to NIH's lengthy validations document, eXchange Services Notes, Tips and Validations.
  • It describes the errors or warnings Commons sends you when it validates your application.
  • It tells you both what Commons is looking for and what each error message means.
  • This is useful for figuring out what the problem is and what to do about it.
• NIH's Generic Validations Summary and Avoiding Common Errors let you know what to expect.
• Find other resources on NIH's Electronic Submission of Grant Applications Web site.
• If you still need help, contact the Commons; Finding Help has that information.

What are the results of eRA Commons validation?

NIH's software performs a more thorough validation for NIH business rules, leading to one of three results:

• Processed successfully -- no errors or warnings.
• Processed successfully -- no errors but with warnings.
• Failed validation -- errors found.

What are errors and warnings?

Errors resulting from Commons validation render your application unacceptable. They include inaccuracies, inconsistencies, omissions, or incorrect formatting. You will need to correct them and have your authorized organizational representative submit a corrected application to Grants.gov.

Warnings indicate potential issues, but won't stop your application from moving forward in two days.

Review warnings carefully because if left unfixed, some issues could result in NIH rejecting your application.

Learn more about finding validation results and making corrections below.

How does Commons notify me of its validation results?

Commons will email you and your signing official the results of validation: whether your application passed or has errors or warnings.

Don't rely on the email -- regularly check the Commons for your application's status. You, your signing official, or whomever you designate in an assistant role can do this.

Read how to set up the assistant role in the "Other eRA Commons Changes" section at the bottom of the May 1, 2007, Guide notice.

How do I review errors or warnings from Commons validation?

You, your signing official, or an assistant can take the following steps:

1. Log in to eRA Commons and click on the Status tab on the menu bar.
2. If your application had warnings or no problems, it will appear on the hit list with an NIH accession number, e.g., AN:1234567, which will be listed along with the Grants.gov tracking number. Grants.gov calls the AN the agency tracking number.
3. If your application had errors, it will appear on the hit list with its Grants.gov tracking number.
4. Select your application to access the error and warning page.

If you entered an invalid Commons user ID or forgot to include it, your application's status will not appear in the Commons. This is a common error!

What are the most common errors Commons validation finds?

Go to NIH's Avoiding Common Errors.

If my application has no errors, how long do I have to review it?

After your application is in the Commons, you, your assistant, or signing official have two business days to review it before the Commons sends it forward for administrative review by NIH staff. Federal holidays do not count toward the two-day window.

Always look at the application to see that it meets your expectations. This is your last chance to make sure you have addressed any important warnings that could harm your application's chances in review.

If I am not satisfied with the application, what should I do?

If you are not satisfied with the application, ask your signing official to reject it within the two-day viewing window.

Once the two-day window has passed, you must instead withdraw the application. Do this only if you have time to get a corrected application in before the deadline. See How do I withdraw my application after the two-day review period is up?

In either case, only your Commons signing official can reject or withdraw the application, and only your authorized organizational representative can resubmit it to Grants.gov.

If the issue concerns how the system generated the image, read What should I do if there is something wrong with the application image?

How much time do I have to make changes?

To get in by the same submission deadline, you will need to have an error-free application image in the Commons within two business days after the deadline. Take care not to miss the deadline. Read If You Want to Correct After Passing Commons Validation in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

What should I do if there is something wrong with the application image?

Talk to the eRA Commons Help Desk for advice before rejecting an application image.

Commons technical staff will help you diagnose the issue and advise you what to do about it, including whether you have to send a corrected application. See If Your Application Passes Commons Validation in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

NIH will not penalize you for system issues.

For details on the Commons Help Desk, go to Where can I find help for eRA Commons? in Signing Up to Apply Electronically.

How much time do I get to submit a corrected application?

See How much time do I get to submit a corrected application? in the Corrected or Late Electronic Applications questions and answers. Go to our the NIAID R01 Application to Award Timeline for general guidance.

How do I withdraw my application after the two-day review period is up?

Contact the scientific review officer listed in the Commons to withdraw your application.

Does my application undergo any further checks by NIH?

Yes. After electronic validations, NIH staff in the Center for Scientific Review look over your application, as they traditionally have, and may contact you or return your application if there are problems.

They look for items such as font size that the electronic systems are not yet equipped to detect. NIH is strict about formatting and will likely return your application without a review if you do not comply with requirements.

They also check substantive items including information you are supposed to submit just-in-timewhen NIH requests it, e.g., other support and some human subjects requirements.

What if I don't see my application's score in the Commons after receiving a notice that it's been posted?

Call the Commons Help Desk for assistance.

Where can I find a list of Commons statuses and what they mean?

The Commons provides a list of eRA Commons Statuses and a short definition, but you may still need help decoding system terminology.

For example, you may get excited if you see a "Pending Award" status for your application. But that doesn't mean an award is in process. Contact the Commons Help Desk for advice on interpreting the system.

Where can I find more questions and answers about grant applications?

See Corrected or Late Electronic Applications for the next set of questions and answers on electronic grant applications. Also go to Applying for a Grant, Writing a Great Grant Application, and other Application questions and answers.

What if my question wasn't answered here, or I'd like to suggest a question?

Email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. We answer questions by email and post them here. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.