Notice Number: NOT-OD-11-080

Key Dates
Release Date: May 27, 2011

Related Notices

NOT-OD-16-129 :New Policy Eliminates Most Appendix Material for NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Applications Submitted for Due Dates On or After January 25, 2017
NOT-OD-10-077: Policy Reminder Concerning Appendix Materials for All NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Grant Applications
NOT-OD-10-031: Availability of Reissued Parent Announcements for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2010
NOT-OD-10-016: Restructured Application Forms and Instructions for Application Due Dates on or after January 25, 2010
NOT-OD-10-002: Clarification on Timing and Page Limits for Restructured Application Forms and Instructions that are required for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2010
NOT-OD-07-018: New Limits on Appendix Materials for All NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Grant Applications Beginning with Receipt Dates On or After January 3, 2007
NOT-OD-17-105:Reminder: NIH Applications Must Be Complete and Compliant With NIH Policy and Application Instructions At Time Of Submission

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose

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.

Background

NIH’s electronic systems enforce page limits for many sections of electronic grant applications upon submission, while NIH staff manually validate page limits for applications still submitted in paper form. Applications that do not comply with the specified page limits either are rejected during electronic submission or withdrawn from consideration.

Some sections of the application do not have strict page limits. Depending on the field of science or types of activities proposed, these sections (for example the Protection of Human Subjects and Vertebrate Animals sections) may vary in length, or not be needed at all. Although they do not have page limits, the application guides and/or instructions in the funding opportunity announcement contain specific instructions and information to let applicants know the materials to include in these sections.

NIH staff and reviewers have been finding applications that include inappropriate material in sections of the application without page limits, or circumvent the page limits by adding unallowable material in the Appendix. In these cases review staff may include an Administrative Note in the summary statements to alert applicants to the problem. NIH expects applicants to heed these notes and submit future applications that comply with the application instructions. NIH may withdraw applications from review and funding consideration for egregious cases in which inappropriate material has been placed in a section or sections of an application without page limits, or in the Appendix.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

NIH Review Policy Officer
[email protected]