- Best Practices in Peer Review Assure Quality, Value, Objectivity (PDF, 330KB)
Journal of the National Grants Management Association
Capabilities in Scientific Peer Review
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) manages scientific peer reviews for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other government agencies. Our capabilities span the entire peer review process, from planning and identifying experts to evaluation and implementing improvements.
ORISE’s scientific peer review process helps government agencies manage risk and confirm that proposed research has scientific merit and research funding is well allocated. The process also ensures that research conclusions are credible before they are widely distributed and that project goals have either been met or have progressed enough to be deemed suitable for continued support.
ORISE’s capabilities in scientific and technical peer review include:
ORISE works carefully to develop a scientific peer review process that meets the specific needs of each sponsor and is managed with the highest level of process integrity.
ORISE uses established professional networks to ensure qualified, objective reviewers are selected based on sponsor requirements and preferences.
Whether the review is large or small, focused on judging research proposals or focused on evaluating the progress of a program, ORISE provides a number of peer review formats to best fit sponsor needs.
ORISE manages and facilitates workshops and other meetings as an additional means for needs identification and research discussions.
ORISE works with its sponsors to identify opportunities for continuous improvement based on the results of a research review’s evaluation.
ORAU completes DOE Annual Merit Review for fourth consecutive year
Photo courtesy of DOE
Since 2009, ORAU’s Scientific and Technical Resource Integration group has provided peer review services in support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Vehicles Technologies Programs Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting.
In FY12, ORAU’s support expanded to include new information management capabilities, such as a password-protected portal through which DOE program managers could access and approve presentations. The portal sent automatic reminders to the managers letting them know the presentations were uploaded and available.
Managing the logistics of this complex meeting involved the coordination of more than 380 reviewers and 450 projects representing hundreds of millions of dollars in funded research. Presentations were given in 30-minute intervals during 10 concurrent topical sessions and were spread across two separate hotels for four consecutive days.
In all, ORAU peer review experts analyzed more than 225,000 data points to ensure that reviewers were appropriately assigned in such a way that avoided potential conflicts of interest but also capitalized on reviewer subject matter expertise.