REMINDER: NIH Biosketch and Current & Pending Support Forms in SciENcv
Posted January 28, 2026
Discipline(s): All
NIH will require new SciENcv Common Form versions of Biosketches and Other Support documents for applications with due dates on or after January 25, 2026. RPPRs and JITs, and prior approval requests submitted on and after January 25 must also use the new Common Form versions. SciENcv is required to create and certify the now-available Common Forms:
- NIH Biographical Sketch Common Form (which includes the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement)
- NIH Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form
You must use the previous (non-Common Form) version of the forms for submissions due on or before January 24, 2026. Submissions using the incorrect form may be withdrawn. A reference table of which version to use for submission type and date is available in NOT-OD-26-018.
Key changes to forms:
- Form sections have new citation and character limits. Review the tables on the NIH Notice that note the changes. The Products section of the Biosketch now allows only five product citations closely related to the proposed project and an additional five citations that highlight other significant contributions to science. A narrative (no citations) can also be provided on the Personnel Statement.
- Some sections are renamed and re-ordered. Information may now be entered into a different section of the form. Review the NIH Notice for details.
- Forms require certification by the individual. Delegates cannot certify. Delegates can help prepare forms and notify the applicant to review and certify.
Steps to take now:
- In eRA Commons:
- Link your ORCID iD to your eRA Commons accounts. This is required by the NIH for both forms.
- Review and update your personal profile. Data such as title and contact information will import into SciENcv forms.
- In SciENcv / NCBI:
- Ensure your eRA Commons account and ORCID iD are linked to your NCBI account. This is managed in the NCBI account settings.
- Add delegates to allow administrators to enter data in SciENcv on your behalf.
- Complete your Profile in SciENcv and confirm your ORCID iD displays.
When completing the forms:
- Start early. There have been reports of issues with accessing and using the forms. Begin the Common Forms well ahead of the submission deadline to allow for time to address issues and submit tickets to the NCBI helpdesk if needed.
- Confirm your ORCID iD displays in the Persistent Identifier (PID) section of the Common Forms.
- NIH is working on adding more text formatting options to the Biosketch, but has confirmed you can use the HTML tag <br> to create a new line in the meantime. Use <br><br> to enter a blank line. This tag counts toward the character limit.
Known Issues:
- SciENcv is experiencing intermittent errors, likely due to increased traffic to the platform. Some users report trying different browsers or clearing cache works. Others suggest trying early morning or later in the day when traffic to the site could be lighter.
- ORCID iDs cannot be linked to two NCBI (SciENcv) accounts. If you receive an error linking your ORCID iD to SciENcv, check if the ORCID iD is linked in the NCBI account settings. If the ORCID iD is linked to another account, contact the NCBI helpdesk to merge the two accounts with the following information:
- NCBI username
- eRA Commons username (if applicable)
- A description of any submissions made to other NCBI databases
- Email addresses associated with the other NCBI accounts
Uploading forms to RMS or eRA Commons:
- To upload forms, download the certified Common Form from SciENcv. Do not edit or flatten the PDF. Upload the file to RMS or eRA Commons.
- eRA Commons will be updated on January 26, 2025, to require uploads of Common Forms.
- eRA Commons released an announcement detailing changes for Change in PD/PI Prior Approval Requests, JITs, and RPPRs.
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