General Grant Writing Tips

Tip 1: Make Your Project’s Goals Realistic and Clear

Before you dive into the full writing process, we encourage you to start with a first draft of your Specific Aims. Use feedback on your Aims from prereaders to revise, refine, and clarify further.

Consider the scope of your project plan and goals carefully:

• Before you start writing the application, think about how the budget is related to your research plan. Everything in the budget must be reasonable and justified by the work you propose.
• Be realistic. Don't propose more work than can be reasonably done during the proposed project period. Make sure that the personnel have appropriate expertise and training.

Tip 2: Be Organized

Why? Reviewers are accustomed to finding information in specific sections of the application. This creates an efficient evaluation process and saves reviewers from hunting for required information.

Consider starting with an outline that reflects everything that the How to Apply – Application Guide and your funding opportunity announcement instruct you to include. There are also special content rules for Resubmission and Competing Revision applications.

As you organize and draft each application section and attachment, we recommend:

• Be specific and informative, avoiding redundancies. The thought process of the application should be easy to follow.
• Make your application as easy to read as possible.
  • Establish a clear, organized structure with headings. 
  • Use short paragraphs, bulleted or numbered lists, adequate white space, and indents.
• Use bold text judiciously to highlight key concepts, allowing reviewers to scan the pages and retrieve information quickly.

You should not include headers or footers in your application attachments. Upon submission, NIH’s electronic systems will automatically add a time stamp, tracking number, funding opportunity number, and page numbers in the application’s header and footer areas.

Tip 3: Write in Clear, Concise Language

Why? Reviewers must read quite a few applications in full detail. Your application has a better chance of being successful if it is easy to read and well-written.

• Write a clear topic sentence for each paragraph with one main point or idea. This is key for readability.
• Aim to keep sentences as clear, simple, and short as possible. Sentences of 20 words or less are easier to read.
• Make your points as directly as possible. Avoid jargon or excessively technical language. Remember, not all reviewers will be experts in your field. 
• Be consistent with terms, references, and writing style.
• Write in the active voice: "We will develop an experiment.” Active voice clarifies who will take which actions. Avoid using passive voice: "An experiment will be developed."
• Spell out all acronyms on first reference.
• If writing is not your forte, seek assistance.

Check Communicating Research Intent and Value in NIH Applications for more advice and examples edited for plain language.

Tip 4: Your Reviewers Are Your Primary Audience

Capture the attention of your peer review group by making an evocative case for why NIH should fund your research.

• Your funding opportunity notice lists all the Review Criteria, including any opportunity-specific criteria. Make it clear how well your project fits all the criteria.
• Stress the significance of your proposed work. Doing so can enhance the application’s appeal.
• Describe how your planned project reflects principles of scientific rigor, reproducibility, and transparency. Find application resources and guidance on Enhancing Reproducibility through Rigor and Transparency.
• Include enough background information to enable the reader to understand your proposed work. Spell out acronyms and minimize jargon.
• Consider adding figures, diagrams, charts, and other graphics to summarize your data and project plan. Read Tips for Tables, Charts, and Figures.

All reviewers are important to you because each gets one vote. For context, learn about the Review process.

• Write to ensure that your assigned reviewers can readily grasp and explain what you propose. 
• They summarize your application and guide the review panel's discussion. 
• They can clarify any unusual or complex elements for the other reviewers.

Your application should be clear enough to inform and convince reviewers with different levels of expertise. In a sense, you have two audiences of reviewers:

• The majority of your peer reviewers will not be experts in your niche scientific area or familiar with all of your techniques.
• A smaller number of reviewers will be familiar.

Tip 5: Edit Yourself

It can be challenging to edit your own text. Our advice:

• Set your draft aside for a few days, then return when you have fresher eyes.
• Reread and consider whether the content flows well.
• Have zero tolerance for typographical errors, misspellings, grammatical mistakes, or messy formatting. If the application is sloppy or disorganized, reviewers may think your research could be conducted in the same manner.
• Remember the details! Follow the requirements when you Format Attachments, such as font size, margins, and spacing. Label sections as directed. You don’t want your application removed from funding consideration because of missed rules.
• Try reading your draft text out loud to catch any odd phrasing, typos, and missing or duplicated words.
• Conduct a self-review based on the peer review criteria in your funding opportunity notice. How would you rate your own application?

Tip 6: Enlist Help, Share for Comments

It can help to recruit someone else to review your content, check your punctuation, and give you feedback on whether the content flows.

• Consider asking your peers to be pre-readers, such as mentors, collaborators, experienced investigators in your organization, or colleagues elsewhere. If possible, have both experts in your field and those who are less familiar with your science provide feedback.
• Early in the process, ask pre-readers to review a first draft of your Specific Aims. Refine as needed, then move ahead to draft more sections. This step can save lots of valuable time.
• Ask if your pre-readers would also review other parts of your draft application. If so:
  • Encourage them to use a critical eye and evaluate the application using the peer review criteria.
  • Be sure to include any special review criteria listed in the funding opportunity.
• If more than one investigator contributes to writing the application, you can review each other’s text for consistent tone, style, and proofreading.
• If possible, get an experienced editor to check clarity and proofread.

Based on comments from your volunteers, make the revisions and edits that seem likely to improve your application.