Latest Updates
August 8, 2023
New Language has been added to the confidentiality agreement in IAR prohibiting the use of AI technologies in the peer review process. The Confidentiality Statement will include a new sentence emphasizing that reviewers should not use generative artificial technologies for NIH peer review except as authorized by the scientific review officer or other designated NIH official (as outlined in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-23-149).
The Confidentiality Statement includes this new language, whereby reviewers must agree:
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Not to upload or share content or original concepts from grant applications, R&D Contract proposals, critiques, or any other associated confidential meeting information with any unapproved third-party platforms, including generative artificial intelligence technologies, except as authorized by the DFO or other designated NIH official.
The revised statement is limited only to NIH and Other Transaction (OT) review meetings.
There are no changes to the process by which a reviewer certifies the confidentiality statement or to how reviewers indicate whether or not they are a federally registered lobbyist — the two steps reviewers are required to take before gaining access to a review meeting.
March 25, 2023
To make terminology more inclusive of funding instruments that are not grants, the label ‘grant number’ will be renamed as ‘application number’ on certain screens in the Internet Assisted Review (IAR) module. In the same vein, the ‘RFA/PA’ label will be renamed as ‘opportunity number.’ The latter is in keeping with the recent change of Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), to standardize terminology across the federal government
In cases where the grant number and RFA/PA are present on an IAR screen, then they will be relabeled as Application Number (Opportunity Number).
IAR Screens (for reviewers) to see this change:
- List of Applications
- VM List of Applications
- Final Score Sheet
April 13, 2023
IAR has been updated through the module with new screens to meet new user interface (UI) requirements and improved security. Functionality remains nearly the same with the exception of the new UI capabilities.
The following screen have been updated to meet the new requirements:
- List of Meetings Screen
- List of My Assigned Applications Screen
- View Access Code for Downloads Screen
Reviewers will use the three-dot ellipses icon to access available actions through the various screens.
See Navigating and Using the UI in eRA Modules for more information.
May 25, 2022
In December, OER issued a guide notice (NOT-OD-22-044) that emphasized the importance of maintaining security and confidentiality in the peer review process. The notice clarified the following:
- improper use of data in and access to government computer systems [i.e., Internet Assisted Review (IAR)] is prohibited
- confidentiality in peer review must be maintained
- certifications are required as part of the peer review process
- listed the possible consequences if rules are violated.
To keep the language in sync with the guide notice, the language of the confidentiality agreement and the conflict of interest (COI) in IAR has been revised.
The following topics have been updated to reflect this change:
