Statement of Principles for Scientific Merit Review
National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka
• Expert Assessment
Each application is pre-screened for conformity with the NSF guidelines. Incomplete, inaccurate and non-compliant applications will be excluded.
Then, for each application two independent reviewers are nominated considering their expertise in the relevant field by the relevant Working Committee appointed by the NSF Board of Management. Each Working Committee consists of 08-10 members with appropriate knowledge & expertise in various aspects of that field.
• Transparency
Decision is based on clearly described guidelines for prescreening, procedure for reviewing applications, evaluation criteria and marking scheme developed for reviewers and Working Committees. Decision of the NSF Board of Management, whether strongly recommended, recommended, not recommended or need revision for each proposal will be informed to the applicants. Applicants will receive appropriate feedback on the evaluation of their proposals. The decision of the NSF Board of Management is final.
• Impartiality
Each application is treated equally and assessed on the merit of proposals. Conflict of Interest and Impartiality Obligations will be declared by the Reviewers, Committee members and managed by the NSF.
• Appropriateness
The review process is consistent with the type of the grant scheme, research area addressed, national relevance, merit of the proposal and in value of the budget.
• Confidentiality
In order to protect the privacy and rights of the investigators’ ideas, all the grant applications submitted to the NSF are considered as confidential. All information contained in grant applications, internal and external reviews and Committee discussions are strictly kept as confidential.
• Integrity and Ethical Considerations
Misappropriation of intellectual property, including the unauthorized use of ideas or unique methods obtained from a privileged communication, such as a grant or manuscript review, is considered plagiarism and falls under the definition of scientific misconduct.
Ethical clearance should be submitted within one month of the deadline for submission of an application to the NSF.
