The Future of Peer-Review at NSF

NSF's Biological Sciences Directorate just hosted a virtual office hour to discuss recent changes to the peer-review process. One of my favorite bloggers and thought leaders, Terry McGlynn, wrote up an excellent summary of these changes, so I won’t review them here.

What is clear is that you WILL need a pre-submission review. Whether you ask a colleague, a collaborator, or a consultant like me. At the surface level, most of these changes are an ‘act of efficiency’ but the side effects will be far-reaching. My guess is that it will be harder to get funding especially for:

• early career researchers who don’t yet understand the ropes, and

• researchers doing highly niche science where the benefits to society aren’t obvious

Now more than ever, your proposal should be reviewed by someone outside your research prior to submission. Don’t be afraid to ask a colleague. If it makes you more comfortable asking for someone’s time, offer to review one of their future proposals in exchange.