In June 2007, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiated an effort to formally review the NIH peer review system. External and internal working groups deliberated on challenges and recommendations regarding enhancements to the review system. David S. Rosenbaum, MD, FHRS presented the Society’s recommendations (PDF, 219K) during a NIH Open House Workshop in November of that year.
In the fall of 2008, NIH published the results of a year-long diagnostic phase. Recommendations were developed with the overarching goal to:
“Fund the best science, by the best scientists,
with the least amount of administrative burden.”
NIH recommendations were organized in four priority areas:
- Engage the best reviewers
- Improve the quality and transparency of review
- Ensure balanced and fair reviews across scientific fields and career stages and reduce administrative burden
- Continue to review of peer review process
The changes that will have the most impact on NIH investigators are the following:
- Shorter applications.
- New investigator and early stage investigator policy
- Policy on resubmission applications
- Scoring and review criteria
The changes will be implemented incrementally throughout 2009 and 2010. The following timeline was developed for these changes:
January 2009 Due Dates (for potential FY2010 funding)
- Early Stage Investigator (ESI) and New Investigator Policy
- New NIH Policy on Resubmissions
May 2009 Review Meetings (for potential FY2010 funding)
- 9-Point Scoring System
- Enhanced Review Criteria
- Formatted Reviewer Critiques
- Scoring of Individual Review Criteria
- Clustering of New Investigator Applications During Review
January 2010 Due Dates (for potential FY2011 funding)
- Shorter Applications for R01s and Other Mechanisms
- Restructured Applications to Align with Review Criteria
For more information, please visit the NIH Peer Review website.
