NIH eRA Internet Assisted Review

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NIH eRA Internet Assisted Review

• August 19, 2005

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IAR (Internet Assisted Review)

• Ability to view application image on-line
• Ability to submit critiques for applications in a
  meeting
• Assign preliminary scores to applications to
  which you are assigned
• Ability to read critiques submitted by other
  reviewers

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IAR

• Released in August 2003
• Over 21,000 Commons Accounts with an IAR role
• Over 1500 Meetings Conducted in FY 2005
• Over 220,000 Critiques Submitted
• Currently, IAR usage is approximately 75 of its
  projected future utilization.

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IAR

• Setting up a meeting
• NIH Scientific Review Administrator (SRA) creates
  a roster of reviewers for a meeting and assigns
  applications to each reviewer
• Meeting is set up in IAR and each reviewer is
  sent an email invitation to participate.

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IAR

• Invitation to join the meeting
• Email is different depending on whether or not
  the reviewer is currently registered in COMMONS.
• If Reviewer doesnt have a Commons account, a web
  site for creating an account will be provided.
• Reviewers email address is from the Reviewer
  Address in Personal Profile

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IAR

• Meeting Phases
• Submit Phase (mandatory)
• Reviewers log in and submit critiques and
  preliminary scores for their assigned
  applications.
• Reviewers can only see critiques and scores that
  they have submitted during this phase.
• This phase usually ends a few days before the
  actual meeting.

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IAR

• Meeting Phases
• Read Phase (mandatory)
• Read phase begins after Submit phase (critique
  due date).
• Reviewers are permitted to read other Reviewers
  critiques (if not in conflict). 

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IAR

• If a reviewer has not submitted an assigned
  critique, the SRA may block the Reviewer from
  reading other critiques on that application until
  he/she submits

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IAR

• Meeting Phases Read Phase continued
• Reviewers may view the Score Matrix that
  indicates streamlined or lower-half applications
  as designated by the SRA. These lower-half
  applications may not be discussed at the actual
  meeting.
• The Read phase usually begins a few days before
  the meeting and is open until the actual meeting
  is held.

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IAR

• Meeting Phases
• Edit Phase (optional at SRAs discretion)
• Reviewers may submit updated critiques or
  critiques for unassigned applications.
• Score submission is not permitted.
• This phase is usually open for a few days to a
  week after the actual meeting.

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IAR

• Submitting Critiques and Preliminary Scores
• Word or Text document types supported.
• Preliminary Scores can be numeric (1.0-5.0) or
  alphanumeric (see Submit screen for guidance)
• Reviewers should NOT include their Name as part
  of the critique file they upload.
• To modify a previously submitted critique, simply
  resubmit a new file. Only the most recent
  critique is retained.

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IAR

• Conflicts
• If Reviewer has an institutional conflict, he/she
  cannot submit or view critiques or scores on
  applications where conflicts exist.
• In addition, if Reviewer is in competitive
  conflict, he/she also cannot view the online
  application image.