IAR and eRA Commons

IAR is accessed through the eRA Commons, a web-based system that applicants and institutions use to participate in the electronic grant administration process. Scientific Review Officers (SRO)* use IAR to electronically invite reviewers to participate in review meetings. This process is called enabling. Once enabled for a meeting, a reviewer receives an email invitation either providing instructions for establishing an eRA Commons account or, if that reviewer already has an account, instructions for accessing eRA Commons and IAR with the existing account.

Reviewers use eRA Commons not only to access IAR but also to update their own personal profile information and check on application status as a PI. In order to access IAR, Reviewers must have an eRA Commons account, be listed on the official Meeting Roster, and have a personal profile with an MLG email address (taken from the Reviewer Information section of the eRA Commons Personal Profile). Refer to Setting Up and Maintaining the eRA Commons Personal Profile for more information.

If additional information specific to eRA Commons is needed, refer to the eRA Commons User Guide located online at https://www.era.nih.gov/help-tutorials/era-commons/user-guide.htm.

TIP: *Other Transaction Authority (OTA) - Some screens and terminology may be different in order to accommodate review of OTA, a type of award that is neither a grant nor a contract but a different way of funding that is used across NIH. These changes will typically not be visible to NIH or agency reviewers.