NIH Biosketch: NIH Biosketch

Anticipated on or after May 25, 2025:  New Requirements for National Institutes Health (NIH) Biosketch and Other Support Forms (also known as Common Forms). The NIH:

• Will implement new requirements for all applications and RPPRs submitted on or after May 25, 2025. Until then, continue to use the current NIH guidelines for providing this information as NIH WILL reject any application using the new methods before May 25, 2025.
• Will require all applicants/recipients to use Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) for completing and certifying the new required information. NIH is also working with SciENcv to develop compatibility features [(e.g. Application Programming Interface (API)] to assist entities with full implementation in May 2025.
• Applicants/recipients will be required to obtain an ORCID ID and enter it into the Persistent Identifier (PID) section of the Common Forms. They will also be required to link their ORCID ID to their eRA Commons Personal Profile. For more information on how to set up an ORCID ID and link it to UNC, please visit the following UNC Libraries website: https://guides.lib.unc.edu/orcid .
• Applicants/recipients will also be required to complete a separate supplement form to collect the three required agency specific data elements in order to adhere to NIH’s Peer Review Regulations as noted in 42 CFR Part 52.

For details on how the OSTP National Science and Technology Council Research SubCommittee's framework for implementing National Security Presidential Memo-33 will impact Current and Pending (Other) Support and Biographical Sketch documentation (also known as Common Forms) across federal funding agencies including NIH, visit this UNC Office of Sponsored Programs site - https://osp.unc.edu/proposal/other-support-and-biosketch/   

• Note that the new Common Form Requirements apply to National Science Foundation (NSF) applications submitted on or after May 20, 2024.
• Prior to May 25.2025 implementation of new requirements by NIH, continue to use current NIH Biosketch guidelines. 

The current NIH biosketch format includes four major sections. The Contributions to Science section is a required section that may optionally include references and a link to your complete bibliography. 

1. Personal Statement (new options)
   • May now include up to four peer-reviewed publications that specifically highlight your experience and qualifications for the project.  Effective with May 25, 2016 applications, the Personal Statement section may also include non-peer reviewed publications and other research products.
   • May include a description of factors e.g. family care responsibilities, illness, disability, active duty military service to explain impediments to past productivity
2. Position and Honors (unchanged)
3. Contributions to Science (new; required)
   • Include up to five contributions to science
   • Include up to four references for each contribution; see Details below for the types of content that can be cited in this section
   • Link to a full list of their published work as found in a publicly available digital database; NCBI's My Bibliography is recommended (about My Bibliography).  Effective with May 25, 2016 applications, the URL for the full publication list must be to a government website (.gov) like My Bibliography.
     • Including this link is currently optional
     • No other links/URLs may be allowed in the biosketch or application
     • The online bibliography link/URL may be either active (clickable) or not active.
     • Whether active or inactive, the link/URL to the online bibliography must be spelled out (http:// etc) and cannot be hyperlinked text/words.
     • This online bibliography link and the up to 24 references included in the Personal Statement and Contributions to Science sections replace the previous 15 reference bibliography used in the old biosketch.
4. Research Support (unchanged)

Details on New Components

1. Contributions to Science

• Briefly describe up to five of your most significant contributions to science. Be sure to include:
  • the historical background that frames the scientific problem
  • the central finding(s)
  • the influence of the finding(s) on the progress of science or its application to health and technology
  • your specific role in the described work
• Each contribution can reference up to four peer-reviewed publications OR other non-publication research products including: audio or video products; patents; data and research materials; databases; educational aids or curricula; instruments or equipment; models; protocols; and software or netware. Keynote addresses, conference presentations, and posters can count as research products for the Contribution to Science section.
• The description of each contribution must be no longer than one half page including citations and figures.  Effective with May 25, 2016 applications, graphics, figures and tables are not allowed.

2. URL to Complete List of your Published Work (part of the Contributions to Science section)

• Start putting together your online bibliography as soon as possible. My Bibliography (in My NCBI) is the tool that NIH recommends. If new to My NCBI, see information on setting up a My NCBI login.
   
  • My Bibliography in your My NCBI account: Use the sharing feature to create a public link to your works. The public link to your Bibliography can be generated either by selecting to make your My Bibliography "Public" within your My Bibliography area or when creating a Biosketch in the SciENcv tool and selecting the option at the end of the Contributions to Science section to include a public link to your full Bibliography.
  • Alternatives to My Bibliography? (From NIH Biosketch FAQ #4):

"Per NOT-OD-15-032, the new biosketch format allows applicants to include a link to a full list of their published work as found in a “publicly available digital database” such as My Bibliography. The link is optional.

NIH cautions reviewers against accessing URLs that may compromise their anonymity. The NIH prefers applicants use My Bibliography because the NIH can assure reviewers that their anonymity will be protected if they review publications at that site.
Use of a publicly available database other than My Bibliography is at the discretion of the applicant, but applicants should bear in mind that reviewers are unlikely to click on unknown links. These links must be accessible to the general public without registration and must not point to informational websites that may violate page limit rules (NOT-OD-11-080).

For these reasons, linking to a lab or researcher's site would be inappropriate."

• URL Construction (if inserting the link into Word template; My NCBI handles URL construction automatically)
  • Spell the URL out in full, beginning with ‘http://’ (e.g., http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm).
  • Do NOT include the link as hyperlinked text (e.g., NIH Grants Web page) as eRA system processing will not retain the active link in the assembled application image in eRA Commons.
  • The online bibliography link/URL may be either active (clickable) or not active.

For more instructions, a blank format page, and sample Biosketches, go to the NIH Biosketch page.

SciENcv is a tool designed to help researchers complete biosketches efficiently. This tool will link to and pull in biographical information from your eRA Commons account (or other sources) and publications from your NCBI My Bibliography. An ORCID ID can be linked as well to provide a unique author identifier.  SciENcv currently includes templates for the new NIH biosketch format as well as for the NSF biosketch format. SciENcv will support additional biosketch formats in the future.

Why should I use SciENcv?

• Eliminates the need to repeatedly enter the same information
• The researcher can control the content and edit it as needed
• Creates multiple profiles so each biosketch can be tweaked to support a particular grant application and funding agency
• Export the results as a PDF or share via a URL
• Grant access to other people (delegates) to view and manage your profiles
• IMPORTANT: Use of SciENcv to create a biosketch is part of the new Common Forms Requirements that are being implemented across federal funding agencies. SciENcv is required for NSF applications as of May 20, 2024 and will be implemented for all NIH applications and RPPRs on or after May 25, 2025.

To create a biosketch using SciENcv, follow these steps:

1. Sign into My NCBI. (If new to My NCBI, see information on setting up a My NCBI login)
2. Find the SciENcv box located on your My NCBI home page ("Dashboard").
   • If this is your first use of SciENcv, select the link "Click here to create a new CV."
   • If you are a returning user, select the link "Manage SciENcv" and then select to "Create a new profile" or edit an existing profile.
3. When you create a new biosketch:
   • Select the second tab "From an external source." Enter a name to identify the profile.  (You can also elect to create a biosketch profile from scratch (1st tab) or from a copy of an existing profile (3rd tab).
   • Choose "NIH Biosketch" or "NIH Fellowship Biosketch" as the type of profile to create an NIH biosketch. (Other choices include "NSF Biographical Sketch", "NSF Current and Pending (Other) Support", and "IES Biosketch").
   • Select eRA Commons or ORCID as the external source from which to pull in your biographical information or ORCID iD. (If you have already connected your eRA Commons and/or ORCID accounts to your My NCBI, they will not available choices for external source.)
   • Choose whether to make your profile public or private. 
4. Select "Create." Now your My Bibliography references and eRA commons both linked to the new profile and can be used to generate a biosketch.
5. Fill out your biosketch profile, and choose citations to include from your My Bibliography collection. If your ORCID is linked to your Biosketch, you can also pull in citations from your ORCID record.
6. Once you have completed / selected citations for the Contributions to Science section of your biosketch, you will be given the option (checkbox) to "Include link to complete list of published work in My Bibliography." Selecting this option will make your bibliography public and generate a URL with which you can share it.
7. Share your biosketch using the URL generated when you select the option in step 6 above or download your biosketch as a PDF or in another provided format.