Here is the email from Sheri Cummins that explains that:

NIH eSubmission Item of Interest - December 4, 2007

NIH Reduces Error Correction Window to Two Business Days

Did you see NOT-OD-08-018 in the NIH Guide for Grants & Contracts?

You knew this day would come. "Limited time only", "Temporary", "First
few submission cycles", "Don't get into the habit of relying on
it"...these are some of the phrases we have used since the beginning of
NIH's transition to electronic applications to describe the error
correction window.

In the beginning, the error correction window made sense. The process
was new to all of us. The error correction window helped to ensure that
Grants.gov and NIH processing times did not prevent the submission of a
corrected application in time to meet the receipt deadline. It allowed
applicant business offices to get the initial applications in the door
and then go back and work with each investigator to correct
errors/warnings. NIH and applicant organizations needed to work through
the initial learning curve and to identify and make adjustments to the
submission process based on their early experiences. Today the situation
is very different and it is time to wean folks off of it.

Before you start emailing us at xxxxxx@mail.nih.gov
(feedback always welcome), let me take a stab at some of the questions
you might have...

When does the "error correction window" clock start ticking?

After January 8, the "error correction window" will be the two business
days (Mon.-Fri., excluding Federal holidays) that follow the receipt
deadline of the Funding Opportunity Announcement. For example, if your
receipt deadline is Tuesday, February 5, 2008, then the "error
correction window" begins on Wednesday, February 6 and ends at 5:00 p.m.
local time on Thursday, February 7.

Does this change effect how much time I have to view my application in
eRA Commons?

No. The "error correction window" comes into play before you have an
assembled application. The two business day "application viewing window"
to check your assembled application in eRA Commons remains unchanged.

Can I still use the "error correction window" to address identified
Warnings if my application is assembled and placed in eRA Commons?

Yes. This practice has not changed. To ensure you have one and only one
application go forward, it is best to Reject the current assembled
application and then submit your corrected application. This is
especially important if you are changing PD/PI or application title
information.

Why move to a two day "error correction window" instead of eliminating
it all together (yes, we do get feedback from folks that it should be
totally eliminated)?

We felt a gradual reduction would be easier on the applicant community.
In addition, we'd like to maintain as consistent a message to the
applicant community as we can. We still have more grant programs to
transition to electronic applications. This new pool of applicants
should have the benefit of an error correction window as they work
through the electronic submission process.

Why now? Shouldn't NIH wait until after the move to the new Adobe forms?

Actually, one has nothing to do with the other. The error correction
window was never intended to be a built in cushion for potential system
issues. The transition from PureEdge to Adobe forms does not change the
SF424 (R&R) form set, NIH's application requirements, or the overall
submission process - just the tool used by Grants.gov within their
forms-based solution. NIH has contingency plans in place that would
cover any unforeseen Grants.gov or NIH system issues.

If you still have questions or want to provide feedback, we'd be glad to
respond.

One more thought...the reduced "error correction window" gets the
applications to Receipt and Referral three days earlier and it is likely
that fewer applicants will be taking advantage of the "error correction
window" by using it to make changes not directly associated with errors
or warnings. We've heard from the community that this continues to be a
problem, so reducing the window should help everyone enforce the rules.

Take care,

Sheri Cummins

Communications Coordinator
NIH Office of Extramural Research

Division of Communications & Outreach

Contractor, LTS

To subscribe/unsubscribe to this listserv, please go to our Get
Connected page.

Sherie Donahue
Loma Linda University

-----Original Message-----
From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On
Behalf Of McCabe, Jeanne
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 9:54 AM
To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] NIH gets tough with corrections

Yes, I'm confused. How does the five day window (now two days) relate to
our two day viewing period?

Hypothetically - Does this mean if I submit a grant at 4:59 p.m. on
deadline day (and it clears grants.gov edits so I have the grants ID #)
but then errors out when it gets to NIH that I have two days to resubmit
it?  And THEN two days to view it (and resubmit it again if necessary)
to correct other "fatal" errors?

And in either, neither or both of those two instances in which I hit
"submit" after 5 p.m. on the deadline do I have to include a cover
letter?

-----Original Message-----
From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On
Behalf Of Bloomberg, Robert
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 11:21 AM
To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] NIH gets tough with corrections

Don't we have the two day period after error corrections are done to
view the package and make and format/typo/graphics changes?

-----Original Message-----
From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org]On Behalf
Of Charlie Hathaway
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 12:00 PM
To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org
Subject: [RESADM-L] NIH gets tough with corrections

NIH now says we only have a 2 day post deadline correction window and
all corrections must be in response to errors/warnings.  The latter
idea is, as far as I know, appearing in an actual NIH Guide notice
for the first time.  This suggests that there may be some
enforcement.  So...what do you say to the PI who discovers that his
error free/ warning free application sitting on Commons has an ugly
misspelling in the title or abstract?  Or attached the wrong
references!!??

Question: Is there any difference between what constitutes an
acceptable "correction" BEFORE the deadline vs AFTER the deadline?

The spirit behind NOT-OD-08-018 seems to be the desire to speed up
the process of getting proposals to review.  Thus, perhaps the real
focus here is on shenanigans during the post-deadline
period.  Certainly, the requirement to actually identify your errors
and warnings being corrected only applies to cover letters in
applications submitted after the deadline.

Charlie

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