Enhancing Peer Review at NIH

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Peer Review Home > Implementation Goals > Improve the Quality... > Improving Scoring... > 1-9 Scoring

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1-9 Scoring

The new scoring system will utilize a 9-point rating scale (1 = exceptional; 9 = poor). Although a 7-point scale was planned initially, a 9-point scale was selected based on the desire for a scale with sufficient range. The NIH also has prior experience with the distribution of scores from a 9-point scale, based on data on the 1-5 scale when only 0.5 increments were allowed. Moreover, prior recommendations from measurement and decision science experts regarding the scoring system suggested that an 8 to 11 point scale is appropriate.

This page was last reviewed on December 3, 2008