Key Dates

Related Announcements

NOT-OD-18-115 - Maintaining Integrity in NIH Peer Review: Responsibilities and Consequences

NOT-OD-14-069 - NIH Policy for Managing Conflict of Interest in the Peer Review of Concepts and Proposals for Research and Development Contract Projects

NOT-OD-13-010 - Advance Notice: Revised Policy for Managing Conflict of Interest in the Initial Peer Review of NIH Grant and Cooperative Agreement Applications

Issued by

Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)

Purpose

This Notice clarifies:

• Section IIB.4 "Professional Associates" of NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-010 "Advanced Notice: Revised Policy for Managing Conflict of Interest in the Initial Peer Review of NIH Grant and Cooperative Agreement Applications",
• Section IIB.2 "May Serve with a Waiver" of NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-14-069 "NIH Policy for Managing Conflict of Interest in the Peer Review of Concepts and Proposals for Research and Development Contract Projects", and
• NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-18-115 "Maintaining Integrity in NIH Peer Review: Responsibilities and Consequences".

Policy

Through this Notice, the NIH considers the involvement of an individual in the preparation of an NIH grant application or contract proposal as a professional association that creates a conflict of interest (COI) with any other individual who is listed on that application or proposal as having a major professional role. The COI exists for three years from the individual’s involvement in the preparation of the application or proposal, regardless of whether:

• the application or proposal was funded,
• the individual involved in preparation of the application or proposal was listed as having a major professional role, or
• compensation was provided to the individual for involvement in preparation of the application or proposal.

Depending on the level of involvement, such conflicts will be managed as outlined in NIH Guide Notices NOT-OD-13-010 and NOT-OD-14-069 for other professional associations.

The Notice also considers the failure of a member of an NIH Scientific Review Group (SRG) to declare any COI known to the reviewer (as explained above and in NIH Guide Notices NOT-OD-13-010 and NOT-OD-14-069) as a breach in the integrity of the NIH peer review process. Therefore, the possible consequences for a breach of review integrity outlined in NOT-OD-18-115 are applicable to the failure to declare a known COI on the part of an NIH SRG member.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Sally A. Amero, Ph.D.
NIH Review Policy Officer
ReviewPolicyOfficer@mail.nih.gov