NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) Program Guidelines

PART 2: Submission of New/Competing Application Section III.B.2.6 – Review Criteria
Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network
2.6 Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network Review Criteria
Only the review criteria described below (and the Additional Review Criteria – Overall listed
in Part 2 – Section III.B.3.) will be considered in the review process. As part of the NIH
mission, all applications submitted to the NIH in support of biomedical and behavioral
research are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review
system.
2.6.1 Overall Impact - Overall
Reviewers will provide an overall impact/priority score to reflect their assessment of
the likelihood for the proposed Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network to exert
a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of
the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the
proposed Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network).
2.6.2 Scored Review Criteria – Overall
Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of
scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to
be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For
example, a proposed Clinical Trials Network that by its nature may not be innovative
but it may be essential to advance a field.
Significance
Does the proposed Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network address an
important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? If the aims of the
proposed Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network are achieved, how will
scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How
will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies,
treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?
Investigator(s)
Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the proposed
Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network? If Early Stage Investigators or New
Investigators, or in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate
experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of
accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? Given that the NCTN Program
research projects/trials are collaborative and the proposed Canadian Collaborating
Clinical Trials Network will be involved in collaborative activities (and irrespective of
whether the applicants choose to use the multi-PD/PI option), do the investigators
have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach,
governance and organizational structure appropriate for the clinical research
conducted by the proposed Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network?
Innovation
Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice
paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies,
instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies,
instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad
sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts,
approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?
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