About Online Critique Templates

Online Critiques Under SRF

Navigation and submission capabilities of online critiques for funding opportunities using the simplified review framework (SRF) remain the same for all agencies (see About Online Critiques and Navigating the Online Critique Screen for more information). The differences between the critiques for different agencies is the method of scoring and the number of factors that are evaluated.

To access agency specific instructions, refer to the links below:

Submit Critiques & Scores for Reviews using Factor Criteria (Simplified Review Framework)

All Other Applications

Certain review meetings may use online critique templates in lieu of Microsoft Word versions, if the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is compatible with online critiques.

The benefits of online critiques for reviewers:

Includes review criteria from the NOFO used to submit the application so that reviewers have all the information in front of them as they are reviewing applications and writing their critiques.
Allows reviewers to enter scores and write critiques on the same screen.
Alerts the reviewer to missing entries.
Enables reviewers to conveniently save drafts and return to fill out the rest.

Online critiques include review criteria from the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) used to submit the application so that reviewers have all the information in front of them as they are reviewing applications and writing their critiques. In addition, the online critiques allow reviewers to enter scores and written critiques on the same screen.

See the following topics for more information about using online critique templates:

To learn about the Online Critique screen, see Navigate the Online Critique Screen.
To learn how to complete an online critique, see Complete an Online Critique.
To learn how to delete a critique or to see the versions you currently have and their save date, see Delete an Online Critique

Online Critique Score boxes

As NIH transitions to the use of new Online Critique templates, there may be times when reviewers and review staff see a mix of templates in IAR.

Some templates show the criterion/factor score boxes outside of each criterion expandable section.

Online Critique Template with score boxes outside the criterion sections

Newer templates have the score boxes contained within the expandable criterion sections:

The newer Online Critque Template where score boxes are contained within the expandable criterion sections

To access the score box, expand the section by clicking the section title:

Expanded criterion section showing the score box within the section

As funding opportunities expire and new opportunities are published, the older templates (score boxes outside the criterion sections) will eventually not be seen.