Submissions to the NIH Fellows Editorial Board
The NIH Fellows Editorial Board will be on a two-week hiatus from December 18, 2023 through January 2, 2024. Submissions received after December 11, 2023 will be returned to the authors in January.
The NIH Fellows Editorial Board offers a free, confidential scientific document-editing service for any current NIH or FDA fellow.
The all-volunteer Editorial Board of fellows and other professionals edit fellows’ scientific documents—typically manuscripts and grant applications—for grammar, form, and clarity. Other scientific documents types will be accepted on a case-by-case basis. The editors also review essential elements pertinent to the document, such as figures and figure legends, but do not consider scientific merit.
Authors receive written feedback generally within 10 business days and may request meetings with editors.
For more information, please contact at NCIEditors@mail.nih.gov.
Interested in joining the Editorial Board? Find out more.
Requirements for Submissions
Documents must be submitted by a current NIH or FDA fellow. The work does not need to have been done at the NIH or FDA. However, the submitter must be an author on the document and be in compliance with the intended journal's authorship guidelines or general good authorship practices. Please provide a link to the journal's instructions to authors page at the time of submission.
If your document is a grant application, please ensure with your IC that you are eligible for the funding opportunity that you wish to apply for. You must provide a copy of the relevant sections of the Request for Applications (or other applicable instructions) to facilitate the editorial review.
All submissions to and communications with the NIH Fellows Editorial Board will be kept strictly confidential.
Repeat submissions of manuscripts that have been reviewed by the Board are encouraged.
All submissions must:
- Be complete. Each manuscript submitted to FEB must be in its full and completed format as if being submitted to a journal. All pages should be numbered and should include all sections required by the intended journal. The addition of line numbers is preferred but not required.
- Be free of obvious spelling errors. Please do a final spell check in your word processing program before submitting.
- Be formatted according to the intended journal's instructions to authors (if applicable).
How To Submit Your Document
- Ensure the document is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
- Fill out the Submission Form (or the Resubmission Form, if applicable).
- Email the form and document as attachments to the Editorial Board's Senior Editor at NCIEditors@mail.nih.gov.
- Confirm acceptance of the review turnaround time proposed by the Senior Editor upon receipt of your documents.
After Submission
A report of the Editorial Board’s findings will be provided generally within 10 business days. Authors will be notified if any change is anticipated to this schedule.
Authors will receive an annotated PDF with suggested revisions and comments and an electronic report containing broad editorial impressions. Please note, the Board does not comment on the scientific merit of any document received.
Authors can also meet confidentially with the Board members that reviewed their submission upon request.
After review, authors are encouraged to:
- Complete and return the NIH Fellows Editorial Board Feedback form within 10 days of receipt of the written FEB editorial review.
- Acknowledge the NIH Fellows Editorial Board in any Board-reviewed document that is subsequently published.
- Provide a reprint (hard-copy or electronic) of any Board-reviewed document that is subsequently published.
- Share information about the service provided by the NIH Fellows Editorial Board with your colleagues!
Please direct further inquiries to the Senior Editor of the NIH Fellows Editorial Board at NCIEditors@mail.nih.gov.