Using the Reviewer Service Portal
Summarize
Summary of Using the Reviewer Service Portal
The Reviewer Service Portal enables merit reviewers, including external agents, to access and manage their assigned merit review tasks for grant proposals. Reviewers can view detailed grant proposal information, assess proposals based on a scoring rubric defined by the grants program manager, and submit scores or decline to review with reasons. The portal is integrated with the Grants Management portal, which notifies program managers of reviewer decisions.
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Key Features
- Reviewer Landing Page: Displays all assigned review tasks under "My Review Tasks" and provides access to grant programs and announcements.
- My Grants Program Page: Acts as a centralized location to view all assigned Merit Review Tasks (MRTs), including high-level grant program details, task status, time remaining, scores, and flags.
- Merit Review Task Page: Allows reviewers to score proposals on a 5-point scale, decline tasks with valid reasons, view associated details, and reference the scoring rubric. Reviewers can also provide comments to explain their evaluations and flag concerns.
- Merit Review Task Tabs: Reviewers navigate through tabs to access different aspects of the proposal:
- Proposal Information: Overview, narrative, key personnel, and required documents.
- Budget: Detailed budget breakdowns and related financial documents.
- Supplemental Materials: Additional supporting documents like letters of support.
- Compliance: Compliance questionnaires and responses.
- Activity: Tracks all actions and updates in the review process.
- Scoring: Reviewers assign scores for evaluation categories such as Innovation, Feasibility, and Approach. They can also provide rationale, strengths, and concerns before saving or resetting their input.
Key Outcomes
Reviewers can efficiently manage and complete merit reviews, ensuring consistent and transparent scoring based on predefined frameworks and rubrics. The portal supports clear communication of decisions, including the ability to decline reviews with justification, while keeping grant program managers informed in real time. This structured review process enhances the integrity and effectiveness of grant evaluations.
The Reviewer Service portal is accessible by merit reviewers to review their assigned merit review tasks. Reviewers can review the grant proposal information available in various tabs in the portal and score the proposal. The scores are based on the review framework and rubric selected by the grants program manager during program setup.
The reviewer service portal is available to external agents or reviewers for viewing their merit review tasks and scoring the grant proposals. Scores generated are based on the review framework and scoring rubric selected by the grants program manager during program setup. From the reviewer service portal, the merit reviewers can either submit scores or decline to review by providing appropriate reasons. The grants program manager is notified of the merit reviewer decisions in the Grants Management portal.
External Reviewer Landing Page
The Grants Management experience begins on the Reviewer service portal landing page for external. Grants organizations may customize their landing pages with branding colors or other display changes, but the components may remain the same.
The following is an example of how the default landing page appears on the Reviewer service portal workspace for an external reviewer.
- View and manage a list of review tasks for grant proposals.
- View grant programs or proposals that they are participating in.
- View the grant program announcement page.
My grants program page
For external reviewers, the my grants program record page aims to be a one-stop shop. Within the My reviews page, you can view all your assigned Merit Review Tasks (MRTs) for which you serve as a reviewer.
- View high-level information from the record page of the grant program by selecting the grant program number.
- View details of the listed review tasks such as time remaining, status, score, and flags.
Merit Review Task Page
- View or reference the scoring rubric by selecting the KB article.
- Review proposals and assign scores based on their assessment or flag any reviews.
- Provide comments for rationale, strengths, or concerns about their evaluation of the proposal.
- Submit or decline a review along with justifications.
Merit Review Task Tabs
You can review the proposal by navigating through the following tabs: Proposal Information, Budget, Supplemental Materials, Compliance, and Activity.
- Scoring
- By default, no scores are displayed in this tab. For each evaluation category—Innovation, Feasibility, and Approach—you can assign a score out of 5. Additionally, you can provide input for the Rationale Summary, as well as
identify Strengths and Concerns. Once your input is complete, you have the option to Save or Reset your changes.
- Proposal Information
- This section provides detailed insights into the proposal, including the Proposal Overview, Narrative, Key Personnel, and Required Documents.
- Budget
- This tab provides a detailed breakdown of the financial aspects of the proposal, including cumulative budget subtotals and access to all relevant budget documents.
- Supplemental Materials
- This section includes additional supporting documents, such as Letters of Support and optional attachments.
- Compliance
- This tab contains the compliance questionnaire along with the corresponding responses.
- Activity
- This tab allows you to track all actions, updates, and changes made throughout the merit review process.