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Issued by

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH)

Purpose

Biomedical research has increasingly become a collaborative and interdisciplinary enterprise that relies on transparent reporting, rigorous replication, careful interpretation of methods and analyses, and the iterative refinement of scientific knowledge. In recognition of this evolution, NIH seeks public input on the defining features of modern 21st-century science that should be measured, recognized, and incentivized. 

Background

NIH recently launched a new agency-wide Replication and Reproducibility Initiative to incentivize and institutionalize replication and reproducibility efforts across the biomedical research enterprise. As part of this Initiative and NIH's Plan to Drive Gold Standard Science, NIH is supporting the research community in identifying critical research and infrastructure needs necessary to advance rigorous and reliable scientific findings. ^[1]  

NIH aims to incentivize and reward rigorous research that delivers value to the American public, but current metrics of scientific success rely heavily on individual-level indicators of productivity, such as publication counts and citation metrics. NIH seeks to better align its measures of success with its core mission; generating knowledge that enhances health, lengthens life, and reduces illness and disability. 

Information Requested

To support efforts, NIH is engaging stakeholders in defining specific, measurable indicators and incentives that reflect the collaborative, rigorous, and mission-driven nature of modern biomedical science. Comments are welcome on all potential possible indicators and incentives, but are specifically encouraged on the following:  

• Rigor and Reproducibility. Reproducible and replicable biomedical approaches are foundational to rigorous research. New strategies are needed to identify areas ripe for replication and reproducibility efforts, as well as incentives and infrastructure to support the reproduction and replication of existing findings. NIH also seeks comment on rigor, including with regard to defining causal research. 
• Data, Software, and Model Sharing. Sharing scientific data and tools accelerates biomedical research discovery, in part, by enabling validation of research results, providing accessibility to high-value datasets, and promoting data reuse for future research studies. NIH seeks to incentivize and reward these activities to maximize the value of research investments, catalyze collaborations, and accelerate scientific impact.
• Training and Mentorship. NIH recognizes that advancing its mission requires promoting the growth and stability of the biomedical research workforce. While NIH supports training and protects time through existing policies and programs, additional indicators are needed to assess and quantify the impact of these efforts.
• Collaboration. As biomedical research becomes increasingly interdisciplinary and convergent, collaboration is growing in both scale and complexity. NIH seeks new approaches for assessing and recognizing contributions to team-based science. 
• Entrepreneurship and Translation. To advance the translation of discoveries into products for people, NIH fosters the maturation of discoveries from bench to bedside and promotes innovation across sectors. More can be done to incentivize, assess, and integrate the impact of innovation and entrepreneurial efforts as critical to the NIH mission.
• Foundational Scientific Exploration. Basic research and high-risk, high-reward initiatives represent foundational scientific exploration with an inherent risk of failure but the potential for paradigm-shifting breakthroughs. Further embedding these approaches within the academic enterprise is essential to ensuring continued support for bold and innovative research directions. 
• Public Impact. NIH seeks approaches for assessing and recognizing the broader public impact of biomedical research, including contributions to health outcomes, economic growth, clinical practice, public trust, accessibility, and societal benefit. 

The NIH is particularly interested in comments that include specific examples of measurable indicators, implementation approaches, potential benefits or unintended consequences, and considerations for feasibility across career stages, disciplines, and institution types.

Submitting a Response

Comments should be submitted electronically to the following webpage: https://osp.od.nih.gov/comment-form-measuring-and-rewarding-scientific-impact/ Responses will be accepted through August 19, 2026. Responses to this RFI are voluntary and may be submitted anonymously. You may also voluntarily include your name and contact information with your response. Other than your name and contact information, please do not include in the response any personally identifiable information or any information that you do not wish to make public. Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should not be included in your response. After the Office of Science Policy (OSP) has finished reviewing the responses, the responses may be posted to the OSP website without redaction.

Notes

[1] https://grants.nih.gov/funding/find-a-fit-for-your-research/highlighted-topics/66

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

NIH Office of Science Policy

[email protected]