Peer Review Policies and Practices

On This Page:  What's New in Peer Review For Reviewers Law, Regulations and Policies
	Peer review meeting in progress (Photo courtesy of Center for Scientific Review)

What's New in Peer Review

Friday, August 12, 2016

Post-Submission Materials.  NIH simplified and consolidated current policy concerning materials submitted after submission of the grant application but prior to the initial peer review.  The policy is based on the principle that, for the majority of applications, the only post-submission materials that these agencies will accept are those resulting from unforeseen events.  The policy on post submission application materials is not intended to correct oversights/errors discovered after submission of the application.  See NOT-OD-16-130  and FAQs.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Rigor and Reproducibility.  Scientific rigor and transparency in conducting biomedical research are key to the successful application of knowledge toward improving health outcomes.  Beginning with applications submitted for research grants and mentored career development awards for the January 25, 2016 due date, application instructions and review language focus on four key areas:

• Scientific premise
• Scientific rigor
• Consideration of relevant biological variables, such as sex
• Authentication of key biological and/or chemical resources

See the Rigor and Reproducibility page and FAQs for additional information. 

More...

For Reviewers

Information for reviewers:  Find pre-meeting, meeting and post-meeting activities on our ‘Information for Reviewers’ website.  The site includes key information such as reviewer guidelines, policy documents, step-by-step instructions for using the Internet Assisted Review (IAR) system. In addition, critique templates are located on the website; reviewers must check with their Scientific Review Officer on which template to use. 

Law, Regulations and Policies

Peer review regulations provide the underpinning of peer review policies. 

• Final Rules and Regulations for Scientific Peer Review of Research Grant Applications and Research and Development Contract Projects (42 CFR 52h) - (PDF - 61 KB)
• Federal Register Notice - January 15, 2004 -  (PDF - 67 KB) 
• Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy
• Government in the Sunshine Act 

For Peer Review policies, see the section for:

• Confidentiality
  • Maintaining Confidentiality in NIH Peer Review (NOT-OD-14-073)
  • NIH Confidentiality and Non Disclosure Rules
  • FAQs

 

• Conflict of Interest
  • Managing Conflict of Interest in NIH Peer Review of Grants and Contracts
  • FAQs

 

• Rigor
  • Rigor & Reproducibility
  • FAQs

 

• Human Subjects
  • Guidelines for the Review of the Human Subjects Section
  • FAQs

 

• Inclusion
  • Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion on the Basis of Sex/Gender, race, Ethnicity and Age in Clinical Research
  • FAQs

 

• Stem Cells
  • Application Proposing Use of Human Embryonic Stem Cells

 

• Vertebrate Animals
  • Worksheet for the Vertebrate Animals Section (VAS)
  • FAQs

 

• Budget
  • Budget and Period of Support Information

 

• Scoring
  • The NIH Announces New Scoring Procedures for Evaluation of Research Applications (NOT-OD-09-024)

 

• Appeals
  • Appeals of NIH Initial Peer Review (NOT-OD-11-064) 

Note: Other guidelines can be found on the Consolidated List of Reviewer Documents webpage