Earlier this year, NIH’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR) published a request for information (RFI) on simplifying peer review criteria. The potential changes would allow peer reviewers to better focus on scientific merit by evaluating:
- Scientific impact, research rigor, and feasibility of proposed research (while not simultaneously considering routine administrative matters).
- Whether appropriate expertise and resources are available to conduct the proposed research (rather than assessing quality of the institution or investigator).
Put differently, reviewers unburdened by peripheral responsibilities (e.g., assessing Resource Sharing Plans) should have an easier time identifying the strongest, highest-impact research projects.
At Recommendations for Simplifying R01 Review Criteria, you can consider the specific changes to evaluation criteria that would be made to achieve those ends.
Dr. Noni Byrnes, CSR Director, and Dr. Michael Lauer, NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research, shared an Update on Simplifying Review Criteria: Analysis of Comments from the Request for Information to highlight key takeaways from more than 800 responses to the RFI. They note:
- A vast majority supported most of the proposed changes to the peer review criteria.
- A minority were in favor of Investigator and Environment being a scored factor.
- A small minority advocated for a blinded or partially blinded review process.
You can review a detailed summary of the extramural community’s responses at Simplifying Review Framework: Feedback from the Request for Information.
How exactly NIH will proceed with efforts to simplify peer review criteria is not yet clear, though we do not anticipate any policy changes will go into effect this year. Each notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) lists its evaluation criteria in Section V. Application Review Information, e.g., NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01, Clinical Trial Not Allowed), so as an applicant you need to worry only about the specific NOFO through which you are applying.