Grant review: American Idol or big brother?

摘要

There is little doubt that the current NIH grant review system is not perfect But this is true for any nondeter-ministic process, including scientific manuscript review, content consensus in collaborative web environments, the refeering of sports events, and debates surrounding issues of health or education. Any process that has broad ramifications and requires a frequent, repetitive, and community-based decision will have to be consistent and fair but also agile and dynamic.