SciENcv Updated to Support New NIH Biosketch Format

This blog post is geared toward researchers.

In November, NIH announced a new format for biographical sketches (biosketches); the new format is required for grant applications submitted for due dates after May 24, 2015 (see NOT-OD-15-032). SciENcv, a tool available through My NCBI for creating biosketches, has been updated to reflect the format changes and to help users convert their existing NIH biosketches from the old format to the new.

What changed with the NIH Biosketch?

Differences between the old and new NIH Biosketch formats include:

  1. Maximum length increased from 4 to 5 pages
  2. Rearranged data in the table at the top of the Biosketch
  3. Section A, Personal Statement can now include up to 4 supporting citations
  4. Section C is now called “Contribution to Science” and should be comprised of up to 5 brief descriptions of your most significant contributions to science, each with up to 4 supporting citations. In addition,  you may also provide a URL to a full list of your published work as found in a publicly available digital database such as My Bibliography. This section is the most notable difference in the new format.

Figure 1. Sections A (Personal Statement) and C (Contribution to Science) in the new NIH Biosketch format.
Figure 1. Sections A (Personal Statement) and C (Contribution to Science) in the new NIH Biosketch format.

How was SciENcv updated to support the changes?

SciENcv identifies your NIH Biosketch type as either “Old NIH Biosketch” for the previous version, or as “NIH Biosketch” for the new, current version. This is visible in the list of your SciENcv Biosketches or at the top of any individual Biosketch (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. SciENcv section showing NIH Biosketch type as either “Old NIH Biosketch” for the previous version, or as “NIH Biosketch” for the new, current version.
Figure 2. SciENcv Biosketches section showing NIH Biosketch type as either “Old NIH Biosketch” for the previous version, or as “NIH Biosketch” for the new, current version.

SciENcv makes it easy to update your NIH Biosketch from the old format to the new one. If you access a Biosketch in the old NIH format, you will notice a prominent warning (see Figure 3). Click on the large, green button to update the Biosketch to the new NIH Biosketch format. SciENcv will duplicate the Biosketch into a new document in the updated format, leaving your old Biosketch intact.

Figure 3. Warning section of an outdated Biosketch with green button allowing an update to current version.
Figure 3. Warning section of an outdated Biosketch with green button allowing an update to current version.

In Section A, Personal Statement, you have the option to include up to 4 peer-reviewed publications that highlight your experience for the project. Click on the “Show/hide citations” link to choose items to include.

Add your narrative statements to Section C, Contribution to Science, using the tabs to access up to 5 contributions you may want to include (Figure 4). Each contribution has a description section where you enter your text and a citations section to pick up to four peer-reviewed publications or other non-publication research products. You can rearrange the order of the contributions by dragging the tabs directly.

Figure 4. Section C is now called “Contribution to Science” and can include up to 5 descriptions of your most significant contributions.
Figure 4. Section C is now called “Contribution to Science” and can include up to 5 descriptions of your most significant contributions.

Finally, it’s easy to add the optional link to your My Bibliography collection. Simply check the box for “Include link to complete list of published work in My Bibliography” and the system will append the URL for you at the end of the section (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Check the box for “Include link to complete list of published work in My Bibliography” to add a link to your My Bibliography collection.
Figure 5. Check the box for “Include link to complete list of published work in My Bibliography” to add a link to your My Bibliography collection.

Questions?

The SciENcv homepage includes lots of useful information such as FAQs, news, and even the data schema used to house the information in your Biosketch.

If you’d like to view the information in this post in a different format, NCBI recently had a webinar on the same topic:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3VquWmgcco]

Complete documentation on using SciENcv can be found on the NCBI Bookshelf.

Finally, feel free to contact the NCBI Help Desk with questions about specific issues or feedback on how we can improve SciENcv.

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