Prepare Application
Resubmission, Revision, Renewal
Here are some resubmission, revision and renewal FAQs to assist you.
- NIH and Grants.gov seem to use different terminology for application type, how do I know which term is correct for my situation?
Grants.gov has brought us new terminology for the Type of Application field of the SF424 (R&R) Cover Component (box #8). NIH is trying to change all of its materials to correctly reflect the new terminology, but it will take some time. Please use the handy chart below as we work through this terminology change.
New Grants.gov Term Old NIH Term Notes New New An application that is submitted for funding for the first time. Includes multiple submission attempts within the same round. (Type 1) Renewal Competing Continuation Previous years of funding for the project have elapsed. Competing for additional years of funding to continue original project. (Type 2) Revision Competing Supplement Request for additional funds for a current award to expand the scope of work. Applicants should contact the awarding agency for advice on submitting any revision/supplement application. (Type 3) Resubmission Revision or Amended Application Application previously reviewed. A revised or amended application addresses reviewer feedback. (A1/A2) Continuation Progress Report NIH does not use the SF424 (R&R) for Continuation Applications. (Type 5; Progress Reports for Simplified Non-competing (SNAP) are submitted directly to eRA Commons for others paper is still submitted)
- What do I do if more than one application type seems to fit my situation?
In the PHS 398 paper world, applicants could identify more than one application type for a single application. However in the new SF424 (R&R) world, only one option can be selected. An easy rule of thumb is that any application that is submitted in response to review feedback should be marked as a resubmission. So, if an applicant is submitting a resubmission of a renewal or a resubmission of a revision, then resubmission should be chosen as the single application type.
- What do I put in the Federal Identifier field of the SF424 (R&R) cover component?
If "Type of Application" is "New", you can leave the Federal Identifier field blank on the first submission attempt. However, the Federal Identifier field becomes a required field when submitting a Changed/Corrected application to address errors/warnings. When submitting a Changed/Corrected "New" application, enter the Grants.gov tracking number of the previous submission attempt (e.g. GRANT00123456). If you are unable to find the tracking number, enter "N/A".
If "Type of Application" is "Renewal", "Revision" or "Resubmission", enter the IC and serial number of the prior application/award number (e.g. CA123456). For these types of applications, do not change the Federal Identifier field when submitting Changed/Corrected applications.
- When submitting an application again to address errors or warnings, how do I indicate on the form that the current submission supersedes the previous?
On the SF424 (R&R) cover component, box #1 Type of Submission should be set to "Application" on the initial application submission. Box #1 should be set to "Changed/Corrected" for all subsequent submissions of the same application to address errors or warnings.
Note that box #8 Type of Application remains the same from one submission attempt to the next within the same receipt deadline.
See the section of the application guide titled "Correcting Errors" for additional information.
- What part of the application/award number is the IC and serial number?
NIH's grant application/award numbers consist of the following parts:- A single-digit Application Type
- A three-digit Activity Code
- A two-letter IC Code
- A six-digit Serial Number
- A two-digit Grant Year (preceded by a dash to separate it from the serial number)
- Additional suffix information that may include the letter "S" and related number for a particular supplement record, the letter "A" and related number to identify an amendment and/or the letter "X" and related number to identify a fellowship's institutional allowance record.
For example, 3R01CA123456-04S1A1 would indicate an amendment (A1) to a supplemental (Type 3) application for a traditional research project (R01) referred to the National Cancer Institute (CA). The number further identifies the application serially as the 123456 new proposal submitted to the NCI, and indicates that this is the first supplemental application (S1) to the fourth year (-04) of the support to this project. In this example, the IC and serial number would be "CA123456".
Additional information on the NIH grant application/award identification numbering system can be found at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/ac.pdf (PDF - 622 KB).
- Is it OK to scan portions of the original PHS 398 application when submitting a revision, renewal or resubmission?
If you are making the move from paper to electronic forms, please resist the temptation to scan sections of the paper forms. There are times when scanning simply can't be avoided, but (when possible) it is best to work from the original documents that can be appropriately edited for the current submission, converted to PDF format and attached to the new application. Additional benefits of working from original documents include clearer images and the ability to extract text from the application image. (PDF Tips)
