Notice Number: NOT-OD-07-018

Update: The following update relating to this announcement has been issued:

• May 27, 2011 - See Notice NOT-OD-11-080 This Notice serves to remind investigators and institutions that the NIH has the authority to withdraw an application from review and funding consideration for egregious cases in which the Appendix or certain sections of the applications are used to circumvent page limits or include inappropriate material in the application.
• April 15, 2010 - See Notice NOT-OD-10-077 Policy Reminder Concerning Appendix Materials for All NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Grant Applications.

Key Dates
Release Date: November 17, 2006 (Rescinded February 2, 2017)
Effective Date: 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 purpose of this Notice is to announce a change in policy limiting Appendix materials that may be submitted with grant applications to NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH.
The goal of changing the guidelines for grant application Appendix materials is to encourage applications to be as concise as possible while containing the information needed for expert scientific review. These changes take advantage of electronic access to many publications and should make application preparation and handling easier for both applicants and reviewers. It is important to note that the Appendix may not be used to circumvent the page limitations of the Research Plan.

The following changes apply to applications in response to any funding opportunity announcement (FOA) with submission/receipt dates on or after January 3, 2007.

Information that May Be Included in the Application

• Published manuscripts and/or abstracts that are publicly available in a free, online format may be referenced in the application. These publications may not be included in the appendix. URLs or NIH PubMed Central (PMC) submission identification numbers may be included along with the full reference in the Bibliography and References Cited section (SF 424RR)/Literature Cited (PHS 398) section, the Progress Report Publication List section and/or the Biographical Sketch section. While there is no limit to the number of URLs or PMC submission identification numbers that can be cited, applicants should be both judicious and concise.

• Applications requiring electronic submission on the SF424 (R&R) may include graphic images of gels, micrographs, photographs, etc. in the Research Plan PDF; however these images may not be included in the Appendix (except when part of a qualifying publication). See the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide for guidance as to size and resolution of images.

Materials Allowed in the Appendix

Publications:

• Applicants may submit up to 3 of the following types of publications. Any exceptions will be noted in specific FOAs.
  
  
  • Manuscripts and/or abstracts accepted for publication but not yet published.
  • Published manuscripts and/or abstracts only when a free, online, publicly available journal link is not available.
  • Patents materials directly relevant to the project.

Other:

• Surveys, questionnaires, data collection instruments, clinical protocols, and informed consent documents may be submitted in the Appendix as necessary.
  
  
• Paper PHS398 applications only may include full-sized glossy photographs of material such as electron micrographs or gels in the Appendix; however, an image of each (may be reduced in size but readily legible) must also be included within the page limitations of the Research Plan.

Format of Appendix Materials

• For electronic submission using the SF 424 (R&R) forms and Grants.gov, Appendix materials must be submitted in PDF format.

• For paper submission using the PHS 398, Appendix materials may be submitted in paper format; five collated sets are needed.
  
  
• Applicants are encouraged to send Appendix materials submitted with paper PHS 398 applications on a CD in PDF format in lieu of the five collated sets. See application instructions for details on preparing CDs. Only a single CD need be sent.
  
  
• For materials that cannot be submitted electronically or materials that cannot be converted to PDF format; (e.g., medical devices, prototypes, DVDs, CDs), applicants should contact the Scientific Review Administrator for instructions following notification of assignment of the application to a study section. If the SRA is listed in the FOA, they should be contacted in advance to address acceptability of materials.

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Details

• Any FOAs that currently disallow publications in the Appendix will continue to do so.
  
  
• FOAs currently allowing more than three publications will only allow three for receipt dates on or after January 3.
  
  
• FOAs allowing fewer than three publications will now allow three.
  
  
• In the case of multi-project applications up to three publications will be allowed for each project.
  
  
• FOAs may have additional appendix requirements specified other than publications. In these cases, follow the FOA instructions, which prevail.

Inquiries regarding this Notice should be directed to:

Grants Info
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
Phone: 301-945-7573
TTY: 301-451-5936
Email: grantsinfo@nih.gov