Office of Research and Project Administration

NIH has issued a reminder regarding the limits on Appendix Materials for all NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH grant applications as of January 3, 2007.  The full text and related links are available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-077.html .

The announcement is also reproduced below.

Please contact your ORPA Research Administrator with any questions.

Donna Beyea - x5-8037

Anne Corriveau – x3-2137 

Gayle Elledge - x 5-1502

Brenda Kavanaugh - x5-1504

Tammie Martin - x3-3960

Jane Tolbert - x5-4210

Cheryl Williams - x5-1503

 

Policy Reminder Concerning Appendix Materials for All NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Grant Applications

Notice Number: NOT-OD-10-077

Key Dates
Release Date: April 15, 2010

Related Notices:

• NOT-OD-07-018 - New Limits on Appendix Materials for All NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Grant Applications Beginning with Receipt Dates On or After January 3, 2007

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), (http://www.ahrq.gov/)
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (NIOSH/CDC) (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/oep)

The implementation of shorter page limits, limited number of publications in the biographical sketch, and the restructured research plan as part of the NIH Enhancing Peer Review initiative are cause for reminding applicants of NIH policy regarding materials that are acceptable in a grant application appendix.  The current SF424 R&R Application Guides (General, SBIR/STTR and Individual Fellowship) and the PHS 398 Grant Application instructions contain policy requirements that either implement or supersede NOT-OD-07-018 (New Limits on Appendix Materials for All NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Grant Applications Beginning with Receipt Dates On or After January 3, 2007).  Please refer to the Appendix section of each application instructions for current policy.

Applicants are always encouraged to be as concise as possible while containing the information needed for expert scientific review, and are specifically prohibited from using the Appendix to circumvent page limitations in the Research Plan, such as the single page limit for Specific Aims or the specified page limit for the Research Strategy.  If inappropriate material is included in an appendix (e.g., an extension of the Specific Aims or Research Strategy section) then the Scientific Review Officer (SRO) will instruct peer reviewers not to read or consider the material in their review of the application.  In particularly egregious cases NIH has the authority to withdraw the application from review or consideration for funding.

Applicants should pay particular attention to any Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) which include appendix requirements that differ from the standard requirements included in the application guides and instructions cited above.  Some FOAs do not allow appendix materials or contain other limitations on the materials that may be included, e.g., the FOA NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (Parent R13/U13) limits appendix materials to announcements and reports of previous conferences/meetings under the same sponsorship.  When instructions in an FOA differ from the general application instructions, the instructions in the FOA always supersede the general instructions.

Inquiries

Inquiries regarding this Notice should be directed to:

Grants Info
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
Phone: 301-435-0714
TTY: 301-451-0088
Email: grantsinfo@nih.gov