NIH offers guidelines on handling human and animal subjects in grant applications

NIH offers guidelines on handling human and animal subjects in grant applications

When grant applications call for the use of human subjects, reviewers are responsible for providing an independent evaluation of the research and must address in their reviews whether the use of human subjects is appropriate and comment on the plan to include men, women, minorities, and children. Applications that include clinical trials must have a data and safety-monitoring plan, which the reviewers should also evaluate. When animal subjects are involved, reviewers are likewise responsible for providing an independent evaluation of the research and assessing the appropriateness of the research s well as any risk involved. In both cases, when an exemption is cited by the applicant, the reviewers should determine if the exemption is justified.

The NIH website contains additional information that may be helpful in writing an submission. The "NIH Instructions to Reviewers for Evaluating Research Involving Human Subjects in Grant and Cooperative Agreement Applications" can be accessed at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/peer/hs_review_inst.pdf

Citation: Center for Scientific Review "Peer Review Notes", May 2001