title: Characterization of the peer review network at the Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health.
abstract: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest source of funding for biomedical research in the world. This funding is largely effected through a competitive grants process. Each year the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) at NIH manages the evaluation, by peer review, of more than 55,000 grant applications. A relevant management question is how this scientific evaluation system, supported by finite resources, could be continuously evaluated and improved for maximal benefit to the scientific community and the taxpaying public. Towards this purpose, we have created the first system-level description of peer review at CSR by applying text analysis, bibliometric, and graph visualization techniques to administrative records. We identify otherwise latent relationships across scientific clusters, which in turn suggest opportunities for structural reorganization of the system based on expert evaluation. Such studies support the creation of monitoring tools and provide transparency and knowledge to stakeholders.
authors.affiliation: SciTech Strategies, Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kevin W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Boyack
authors.affiliation: Office of Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation, Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mei-Ching
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Office of Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation, Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America; Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, United States of America.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chacko
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D035843:Biomedical Research; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.) / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017712:Peer Review, Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States