(2009-08-06) CIHR has revised and updated its Peer Review Manual to reflect recent changes to policies and procedure, and to continue our efforts to make the Manual more user friendly and relevant to all of CIHR's diverse grant funding programs.

Important changes include:

1) The document title has been changed to "CIHR Peer Review Manual for Grant Applications" from the previous "The CIHR Peer Review Process: Policies and Responsibilities of Grants Committee Members". This change is in keeping with the broader utility of the Manual.

2) The section on the Rating of Grant Applications (Section 7) has been updated to reflect the inclusion of new grants evaluation criteria. This revised set of criteria is the product of a major effort at CIHR to improve the consistency of peer review and to provide the best possible feedback to applicants. The adoption of these criteria means key changes to the format of reviewer reports and committee discussion. Please note that an evaluation of the applicant(s) is now included in the standard evaluation criteria and is no longer to be addressed separately during review (Section 7.3).

3) Updates to the policies on Confidentiality (Section 3.1) and Conflict of Interest (Section 3.2) have been included to reflect CIHR's revised "Policy on Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality in the context of Merit, Relevance and Peer Review (CCIP).

All grants Peer Review Committee members are expected to be familiar with the content of the Peer Review Manual. Applicants are encouraged to consult the Manual to better understand how their applications will be reviewed.

Any questions or comments about the revised Peer Review Manual should be addressed to James Waring, Analyst, Peer Review Management.