Peer Review Budget and Duration FAQs
Does the study duration indicated by the PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) include peer review?
- The study duration or period of performance encompasses both the research and peer review periods (the maximum time allowed per the PFA).
- The research activities should be fully accounted for in the maximum duration permitted during the PFA, with the peer review activities to occur beyond that duration.
- E.g., if the study is five years in duration, then the research activities conclude by the end of year five, as indicated by the Final Progress Report (FPR), while peer review activities continue beyond the fifth year and conclude at the contract term date (the last date to invoice for allowable study activities).
- The Draft Final Research Report (DFRR) is expected to be submitted three months after completion of the milestone for Completion of Data Analysis for All Study Aims.
- The Final Research Report (FRR) is expected to be accepted by PCORI within 6-12 months of DFRR submission (following necessary revisions).
All research activities should be completed by the submission date of the final progress report.
How should I account for PCORI’s peer review activities in terms of budget and duration?
- The detailed Peer-Review Budget should include costs related to the development and revision of the DFRR.
- After its initial submission, the DFRR will be reviewed by the PCORI editorial team. Often, there are several revisions made to the DFRR before it is finalized and posted as a Final Research Report (FRR).
- The Peer Review Budget should be completed in PCORI Online* (as applicable to the parameters of the PFA) and accounted for in the attached Subcontractor Detailed Budget Template as applicable. The total amount requested should reflect the costs related to writing the DFRR and peer review activities, and the sum of the research budget and peer review budget (the total application budget) should not exceed the maximum total direct cost cap per the PFA.
- You may start working on your DFRR early in your project by identifying materials from your study protocol, Interim Progress Reports, etc., that can be used to complete sections of the report. However, most of the peer review activities will occur in the last few months of the research projects and during the peer review period following research activities. The staggered nature of the peer review process results in gap periods as you wait for the PCORI editorial team to review the report. For this reason, the Peer-Review is budgeted over a 90-day period in terms of the level of effort (LOE), while the entire duration of peer-review is approximately 12-13 months from the end of data analysis to acceptance of the FRR.
There are options for how to budget for peer review; the calculation is at your discretion. Examples include:
- Saying your LOE for the peer review will be at 20 percent over a 90-day period . This would be calculated as such: [(Annual salary * .20) / 4)]. As three months is one-fourth of a year, dividing the salary by four adjusts for a 90-day LOE.
- Saying your LOE will be at five percent over 12 months, which would be calculated simply by multiplying your annual salary by 0.05.
Costs associated with peer review activities are limited to personnel, consultants and subcontractor personnel who will assist the principal investigator (PI) in the development of the DFRR and respond to any requested revisions.
The PI must dedicate measurable effort during peer review. Applicants must identify the peer review support staff role within the budget at the time of submission and include them in the detailed budget as well as budget justification.
Please note, PCORI does not have guidelines for the number of staff or the amount of effort to allocate to peer review, other than requiring measurable effort of the PI. The requested peer review budget may be adjusted during contract negotiations to ensure appropriate time and effort is devoted to the peer review process. On average, we have seen a range from $50,000 to $75,000, calculated over a three-month period.
How to reflect this in application materials:
- In the detailed budget under the peer review tab, the beginning of peer review should reflect the first day after the submission of the Final Progress Report. The end date should be approximately 12 months later.
- In the milestones:
- The DFRR submission should have a due date no later than three months following the completion of data analysis, and may be one month more or less from the final progress report submission.
- The DFRR revisions due date, consistent with final research report acceptance, should be nine months after the submission of the DFRR.
- The contract term date should be 13 months after the due date of the DFRR submission.
- Additional guidance can be found on the PCORI Peer Review Process page.
*Note: Certain PCORI PFAs require separate budget attachments as a part of submission.
Posted: Sept. 26, 2025; Updated: April 28, 2025