Become a Scientific Reviewer for PCORI Funding Applications

Introduction

PCORI invites healthcare scientists to serve as scientific reviewers of the research applications submitted in response to our recently released funding announcements. Scientific reviewers will primarily assess the scientific merit and potential clinical impact of the proposed research.

PCORI needs reviewers for both current and future funding announcements in the following areas of interest:

  1. Assessment of Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options: For projects that specifically address individual decisions faced by patients, their caregivers, and clinicians.
  2. Improving Healthcare Systems: For projects that address decisions faced by healthcare systems, the patients and caregivers who rely on them, and the clinicians who work within them.
  3. Communication and Dissemination Research: For projects that address questions in how to best disseminate clinical evidence to patients, their caregivers, and clinicians and how to best support communication among these groups.
  4. Addressing Disparities: For projects that will inform the choice of strategies to eliminate disparities.
  5. Accelerating Patient-Centered Outcomes Research and Methodological Research

Reviewer Qualifications

Scientific reviewers are members of the health and healthcare research communities whose backgrounds include technical or specialized research expertise as well as prior experience writing and/or reviewing research applications. Successful applicants will have:

  • Advanced degrees in the sciences.
  • Experience that generally includes conducting independent research and publishing peer-reviewed articles.

Review Process Overview

1. Complete Reviewer Training

If you are assigned to serve as a reviewer of PCORI’s Funding Applications, you will be notified via email and online training will be provided. This required 90 minute training contains information regarding the PCORI review criteria, process, and instructions on how to score PCORI Funding Applications.

Online System Instructional Guide: We encourage all reviewers to view our PCORI Online Instructional Guide.

In addition, webinars will be provided for reviewers to discuss any questions or concerns you may have after completing online training with PCORI contracts staff and scientists. Registration is required to attend these webinars.

2. Discover Your Match

Once reviewers complete training, PCORI contracts staff will make every effort to match your area of expertise to areas of research within funding applications. Once you receive notification of assignments, reviewers will need to review for any conflicts of interest. If you find that you have a conflict of interest with any assigned applications, please notify PCORI and this application will be reassigned to another reviewer. If you do not have conflicts of interests, you can accept your assignments in PCORI Online and begin to assess your assigned applications.

3. Assess Applications 

Once you have accepted your assigned applications to review, you will critique and score the application based on the PCORI review criteria in the Online Review.

It is estimated that to review and score an application, it will take approximately 3 hours. If you reviewed and scored an application online and it makes it to panel discussion, you will be asked to share your critique and overall score. Reviewers will receive $100 for reviewing 1-3 applications and $200 for reviewing more than 3 applications.

4. Prepare for Panel

All reviewers will need to attend an In-Person Merit Review Panel where all applications within a PFA will be discussed. For the panel, reviewers will need to familiarize themselves with all applications being discussed in their assigned panel. This information will be provided a few weeks prior to the panel so that you have time to prepare.

5. Attend Panel 

The one-two day Merit Review Panel will take place in Washington, DC area.

Should You Apply to Be a Scientific Reviewer? 

If you are selected, you agree to:

  1. Become familiar with and apply PCORI’s mission, vision, and review criteria, which differ somewhat from those of other funding institutions.
  2. Complete all necessary reviewer training.
  3. Agree to review all assigned applications for a single round of applications and to prepare a written critique of each application reviewed.
  4. Participate in a one- or two-day peer review panel meeting in Washington, DC. In-person attendance is required unless exceptional circumstances (such as a disability) prevent travel.
  5. Provide scores and written critiques electronically.
  6. Become a member of the PCORI review committee to review applications for a period of up to three years. This would consist of participating as a reviewer no more than two to three times per year (subject to official invitation by PCORI).

Applying

After you understand the opportunities and requirements and decide that you are interested in becoming a scientific reviewer, please apply by following the link at the end of this document. If, after reviewing this information, you believe you might be better suited to serve as a stakeholder reviewer, you can find out more about that opportunity here.

Upon receipt of your application to be a reviewer, we will review your credentials and experience and determine whether there is a match between your qualifications and our needs for the upcoming round of merit reviews. Please note that in addition to our three-times-yearly funding cycle, PCORI funds certain targeted and solicited application requests outside the normal funding cycle. If you are selected for any given round, we will contact you at an appropriate time. If you are not chosen for the first round of funding opportunities, you may be selected for future opportunities.

PCORI will have ongoing funding announcements and will retain your information should you match our needs for future research calls. We will stay in touch with all who have applied to update you on PCORI news; to potentially invite you to review a subsequent group of applications; or to participate with PCORI in other ways, such as by participating in a PCORI survey, a workshop, or an annual meeting.

Please understand that even if you are preselected to be a reviewer, changes in application assignments may occur and result in different reviewer needs.

Travel Guidelines:

PCORI will arrange and pay for all reviewers’ travel (except local travel) and lodging for any meetings. Reviewers receive an honoraria of $100 for reviewing 1-3 applications and $200 for reviewing more than 3 applications. An additional honoraria is provided for attending the in-person merit review at $200 per day. If meals and ground transportation is not provided, PCORI will provide reimbursement within reason of these costs.

 

Minimal Technical Requirements

  • Basic computer knowledge.
  • Basic knowledge of the Internet.
  • Basic knowledge of e-mail.
  • Access to Internet.

Thank you for your interest in joining the PCORI community.