We are introducing some new measures to help alleviate pressure on all involved in our peer review process. In 2006 Research Councils UK conducted a review into the efficiency and effectiveness of peer review and reported that the number of proposals to research councils has doubled since 1988/89. This is putting huge pressure on the peer review system, including reviewers and panels.
New rules on the resubmission of proposals
From 1 April 2009, we no longer accept uninvited resubmissions of proposals.
Our previous policy has been that if a proposal is unfunded an applicant can resubmit it after six months. However, the majority of resubmissions are not successful and their ranking position does not change. We want applicants to substantially change proposals before applying again to make the best use of the peer review process.
12-month cooling-off period for repeatedly unsuccessful applicants
From April 2010 we will allow repeatedly unsuccessful applicants to submit only one application over the subsequent 12-month period. We will ask them to use this year to assess their submission behaviour and, if appropriate, seek advice from colleagues about the application process.
This will apply to applicants (listed as the principal investigator on a proposal) who have:
- Three or more proposals within a two-year period ranked in the bottom half of a funding prioritisation list or rejected before panel (including administrative rejects), AND
- An overall personal success rate of less than 25% over the same two year period.
The two year period is from the date on the letter the applicant receives informing them of the outcome of their proposal (i.e. the date the decision is made).
Current data suggests this will affect around 200-250 people, accounting for 5% of applicants and 10% of applications.
The first restriction period will come into effect from April 2010. All applicants who will be affected, and all applicants who are one proposal away from being repeatedly unsuccessful according to the criteria outlined above, will be emailed to inform them of this outcome.
Further measures
We’re working on further measures to help reduce the pressure on peer review, and would welcome comments and ideas for potential approaches in this area. We'll be constantly monitoring the impact of the changes, and plan to carry out a review in approximately 12 months.
More information
If you have any questions, please contact the EPSRC portfolio manager for your research area. Search EPSRC staff contacts